


Anesthesia

by extrobox



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - BDSM, Anal Plug, Anal Sex, Anxiety, Bottom Eren Yeager, Caning, Character's name spelled as Hange, Collaring Ceremony, Dom/sub, Eren Yeager Is a Ray of Sunshine, Eren is man bun Eren, Flogging, Gay Sex, Hange Zoë & Levi Are Best Friends, Hange is a girl in this, Kinbaku, Leather, Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin) is a Sex God, M/M, Master/Pet, Mutual Masturbation, Oral Sex, Pet Play, Phone Sex, Praise Kink, Prostate Massage, Rimming, Rough Sex, Sassy Eren Yeager, Sexting, Shibari, Slow Burn, Top Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Wax Play, contract signing, cross dressing, everyone is over 20
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2020-04-12 07:16:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 59,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19127203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/extrobox/pseuds/extrobox
Summary: Eren continued to be silent, becoming more and more distressed by the situation. What the hell had he just gotten himself into? He could be at home and probably asleep right now, but no. Here he was, being asked who his master was and being called a submissive. He then raised his gaze and looked at the man dead in the eye, green eyes shining strong defiance. A battle of wills.





	1. Introduction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *waves*
> 
> Just a teaser, and if you haven't already caught on this story will contain M/M relationships and consensual BDSM being written by an individual experienced in BDSM. If you aren't interested or this isn't for you, please don't bother to continue on. This story will be going head-on into the lifestyle when the time arises, and I don't want people saying that I didn't warn them. 
> 
> With that being said, I hope you enjoy!

"This is stupid, why couldn't you take Armin with you?" Green eyes shifted to the occupied front seats as he crossed his arms over his chest, clearly not impressed with how this was all playing out.

"Come on Eren, you know Armin wouldn't dare step foot in a place like this. You have a little more backbone than he does. Plus, I heard this place is a new hot spot."

Eren sighed as he moved his arms, hands going to rub his thighs in anxiousness. This is not how he wanted to spend his Friday night. This is the first Friday he had off in months due to inflation at the hospital. Leave it to Jean and Connie to ruin that for him. His hand went to adjust the watch on his wrist as he scratched the skin underneath the cool gunmetal.

Eyes looked at Eren who was scowling in the back seat.

"Oh, come on Eren, how bad could it be? Leather and assless chaps?"

Eren lifted a brow as he looked at Jean through the rear mirror of his car. It was dark in the vehicle, save for the city lights.

"Just what kind of club are we even going to?" Eren's eyes shifted to Connie who was looking at Jean and trying not to laugh. His shoulders were shaking in silent laughter. He then punched Jean in the shoulder and then they both began laughing.

Eren lifted his hands in surrender and looked back out the window in continuous displeasure at being left in the dark. Why him? Why was it always him? They certainly wouldn't try to pull this shit with Mikasa, and Armin was on graveyard shifts. Armin also worked at the hospital that Eren worked at, Trost District Hospital. Mikasa also worked with them but she worked in an entirely different unit than they both did. Eren worked in the ICU and Armin was an intern in the ER.

_Jean and Connie on the other hand…_

They all had attended the same university together and studied together. Jean and Connie knew each other before they knew either one of them. They both were in civil engineering. Once they all had graduated, they kind of stuck together. Eren looked to Jean who was turning left and was leading them down a side road. He then reached forward and put his hand on Jean's shoulder. Jean looked over questioningly at Eren.

It was silent for a few moments before Eren spoke.

"What would I ever do without a horse for a friend?"

" **Hey!"**

* * *

Once the vehicle did come to a complete stop and Jean didn't kill them all in the attempt to get back at Eren's horse comment, Eren did finally look out the window at where the idiot had taken them. Opening the door, he stepped out, black converse hitting the pavement.

"Jean, what the fuck is this place?"

Jean shut the door and turned to make sure Connie had shut the door as well before locking the car. The location was rather discreet in comparison to the clubs and pubs they usually went to more in the city. It was a giant white house with a rather  _intricate_ staircase leading to giant wooden doors. People were coming and going, mostly going in. Eren looked to his watch. It was only 9:30 pm. Still early. He watched a car pull up a few spots away from them, a couple emerging from the car. His eyes widened at the attire the couple had dressed in. He then looked down at his black skinny jeans and a short-sleeved shirt.

At least he got the colour right.

They had made it to the front doors when Eren realized exactly where Jean had dragged him. No wonder why everyone was in either leather, scandalous attire if even anything at all! Eren was no stranger to the human body but in such situations, he definitely felt out of tune with the professional expression he usually kept.

Eren had stopped at the doorjamb shaking his head.

Jean and Connie looked behind them to Eren who had stopped. He was shaking his head.

"No, I'm not stepping in there."

"Eren take the rod out of your ass, all you do is go home and watch Netflix. You're getting in here with us!" Jean went to grab Eren's wrist and pulled him into the establishment. Eren jerked his wrist away from Jean's grip, rubbing his wrist in the process. The damn guy had a strong grip. Eren looked around, seriously feeling uncomfortable and out of place. He swallowed thickly. The front foyer of the club was rather tame, donning a receptionist desk and two hallways. One went towards the main club room and another that went behind the giant…staircase.

This place had a giant staircase. Was this somebody's house? Whoever, anyway, must have reeked of money. Eren looked around, flabbergasted. He could have paid his tuition with the money used to put this place up. Marble flooring donned the whole foyer, up until where two bouncers were standing at the club entrance. They definitely weren't the smallest of people. One had blonde hair and looked like he could take out a tank. The other was somewhat shorter but still had the build of someone who could take out a tank.

"Eren."

Eren turned to Jean who was calling him over to the desk.

What he did miss was the pair of silver eyes watching him since he walked in the front door.

* * *

"Jean, what do we even do in a place like this?" Eren was at a loss at what he let himself be talked into. Connie had left a few moments ago to grab the three of them drinks from the bar. Jean turned his head back to Eren, he was clearly occupied with something or  _someone._ They got stuck signing a bunch of papers at the desk, and Eren honestly thought he was singing away his life. The receptionist had laughed and only said it's just for legal reasons and safety. Not to mention the entrance fee. Did Jean think he was made of money? He was the engineer, not him.

"Listen, I heard from one of the guys at work that usually comes here in free time. I'm a little shocked too but it can't be that ba-" Jean was cut off as they heard a rather loud  _moan_  come from the back end of the club. Eren looked around Jean and honestly had no idea what to say at this point.

A petite blonde girl was sitting on what looked like a vibrating chair and was holding onto it for dear life. She had someone standing near her, speaking reassuring words to her as she nodded while almost sobbing. It was not unchecked by either man that she was stark naked.

"You took me to a BDSM club and thought it was a good idea?! What kind of people do you talk to at work?"

"H-hey well you know that much at least!" Jean raised himself from his slouched position on the chair as Connie returned with 3 beers. Eren looked to Connie who sat down and sipped on his beer quietly. "Did you know about this?" He asked. Connie looked to Eren and shook his head. Eren let out an audible groan and took a large swig of his beer. He looked past Jean again and saw the same blonde girl being led off the weird seat thing by another male who had wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. He led her to a nearby leather couch and sat her down and patted her head. Eren felt like he was something watching wrong like he was almost intruding on something deeply personal. But he couldn't help himself. It just looked so… he couldn't even explain it to himself. The girl was now huddled on the couch as the man went back to the bench and was cleaning it. After he was done cleaning, he had returned to the girl and she immediately cuddled into the male's side.

Eren got up suddenly, both Jean and Connie looking at him.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"I gotta take a piss. Know where the bathroom is?"

Connie thumbed over his shoulder while commenting, "I saw it in the hallway where the staircase is." Eren nodded before walking away from the high table where they sat. Eren walked past the two bouncers who looked at him with a neutral expression. Eren paused in the middle of the hallway at hearing a distinct slapping noise followed by a pained moan. Eren turned back to look at the bouncers with a confused expression. The bouncers didn't acknowledge his confusion, so Eren decided to ignore it. Eren kept walking through the foyer until he came to the long hall he saw earlier, and that Connie had mentioned. He began making his way down the hall until he saw two figures standing right in the middle of the hallway. One was evidently on his knees, also naked. Eren's feet glued to the spot. He clearly had come across something at the very wrong time. The other person standing in front of him had his pants around his knees, clearly, the other person was giving this person oral. The person on their knees suddenly let out a groan and began coughing, clearly choking. The person standing suddenly slapped the other person's face, grabbing him by the hair.

"Hey!" Eren walked quickly down the hall, his hand going to grab the offender's wrist.

"What do you think you're…"

"Doing? I'd like to ask the same thing, brat."

Eren looked down to the person on their knees who now had moved back and was looking at him with wide eyes. This person had some large strap of leather around their neck donned with a silver 'o' hoop in the middle.

_A collar?_

Eren heard footsteps behind him as he looked over his shoulder. It was the two bouncers from earlier. They were ready to grab Eren and he was ready to fight if he had to. The person standing in front of him lifted his hand indicating for them to halt.

"Leave this one here with me. Take Marco upstairs to one of the spare rooms."

Eren suddenly felt very small and stupid, and very much so afraid of the two hulking meat tanks ready to throw him out if they needed to. The one named Marco had gotten up and was covering himself as the two bouncers escorted him upstairs. The person standing in front of him watched as they left, then his cold stare fixated on Eren. Eren stood there awkwardly as the stranger tucked himself in and buttoned up his slacks.

"I didn't think anyone allowed such disobedience wander around here. Who is your master?"

Eren's eyes widened at the question. Master? What? Who the hell was this guy?

"I asked you a question, submissive. Answer me now."

Eren continued to be silent, becoming more and more distressed by the situation. What the hell had he just gotten himself into? He could be at home and probably asleep right now, but no. Here he was, being asked who his master was and being called a submissive. He then raised his gaze and looked at the man dead in the eye, green eyes shining strong defiance.

"I have no master, and I am owned by no one."

The other man let out a chuckle running his hand down his chin, clearly observing the stranger in front of him.

"Is that so? It explains you being so poorly trained, interrupting somebody else's punishment. Or are you a glutton for punishment yourself?"

Eren grit his teeth at the way this guy was speaking to him. Who the hell did he think he was? Fists clenched, he turned around, going to find Jean and Connie so they could get the hell out of here. This was utterly ridiculous, here he was, wasting precious time when he could be actually enjoying his Friday night. No, here was, embarrassing himself to high hell. This was ending, right now.

The stranger watched in amusement as the stranger turned away, walking out of the small hallway. He removed his crossed arms and looked down at his tented slacks. Sighing, he walked out into the foyer and made his way to the second level.

_Interesting..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the first chapter of this story.


	2. Thank you, universe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *waves*
> 
> Hello again! Here's the next installment of this story. I hope you're enjoying it thus far! It's quite different you'll agree? :)
> 
> Enjoy!

Eren just short of stormed back into the club room, the bouncers still not present. His eyes darted around the room looking frantically for Jean or Connie. He found them in the same place he left them at. Jean must have felt the glare on him because just as Eren made it back to the table he looked over at him.

"Shit Eren we were about to go find you, what the hell happened?"

Eren looked to the both of them, bug-eyed. "We're leaving, now."

Eren looked like he saw a ghost but was also super angry and pissed off. His day off was ruined effectively. Connie got up and put his hands on Eren's shoulders trying to get him to calm down. "Man sit down, what the hell happened to you?" Eren was breathing heavily through his nose as he looked to Jean and Connie. "I want to go home. Now."

"Hold on Eren, Jean has to rest for a bit because he drank. Give us an hour and we'll leave." Eren rested his forehead in his hands and looked over at Jean.

"If you knew you had to drive, why the hell would you drink?!"

Jean sipped from a cup of water and didn't respond. He didn't know what up with Eren or what happened, clearly, he didn't want to talk about it. He looked over to Eren with a serious expression.

"Calm the fuck down Yeager, we're going to be leaving soon. I only drank one beer it won't take forever." Eren shakily took in a deep breath before also taking a chug of water from one of the unoccupied glasses.

"Listen I didn't know what really went on here either so I'm shocked as you are. But clearly, you saw some shit, what the hell happened?"

Eren shook his head, clearly not wanting to talk about it. Eren felt somewhat violated but also that he knew he intruded on something he had no idea about. On top of that being utterly humiliated by some  _midget._  He focused on nursing the oncoming migraine while rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Don't worry about it Jean, sober the fuck up so we can go home."

Jean looked to Connie who looked equally as confused as he did and shrugged his shoulders while taking another swig of water.

"Do you work tomorrow Eren?"

Eren sighed before running a hand through his hair.

"Yeah but afternoon shift. At least I can sleep in."

It was silent for the most part, the three of them not really knowing what to say. Usually, their nights were livelier and fuller of ruckus but tonight it was completely shot. Eren's eyes scanned his surroundings. The place was modern and clean, very rich in detail. One side was more for sitting and socializing while the other side is where people participated in what he'd call activities. Clearly, the people here didn't care about indulging in such scandalous activities in public. Maybe that was normal here?

Eren's eyes went back to his glass of water watching the little waves moving the water in the cup. For some reason, he felt like he couldn't move while the stranger was speaking to him. Like he knew he did something wrong and was about to get in serious trouble for it. But why would a complete stranger feel the need to reprimand him? He had no idea that what was occurring in front of him was entirely normal. He supposed the other person didn't know that either, as he asked who his master was. Eren scoffed to himself, while absently getting up with Jean and Connie.

He'll never be owned, ever.

* * *

"Where's Maria?! I need Maria!"

Eren stood at the hospital room door with a clipboard in hand while writing something down.

"I told you already Greg, your daughter is working late tonight and won't be able to come to see you. Your son will be coming to visit around 5:00 pm. You can wait an hour, right?" Eren nodded while smiling to the elderly man who kept asking for his daughter. Eren sighed as the elderly man nodded back to him and walked over to the administrative desk for his unit. He wrote something down and placed the clipboard on the desk.

"Taking care of Mr. Smith, again are you?"

Eren turned to the voice questioning him and huffed while putting his hand on his hip. Leave it to Armin to poke fun at him. Armin had a coffee in his hand as he put a sheet of paper on the desk for Sasha to look at.

"Yeah, I can't even begin to tell you how many times he's asked for Marie."

Armin nodded with pursed lips while shucking a pen into his scrub pocket while also placing a clipboard on the desk. He looked around almost concerned. 

"Where's Sasha?"

Eren shook his head in almost annoyance. Probably off eating her billionth lunch. "I was wondering the same thing."

"Someone ask for me?!"

Both men looked to the backroom that was attached to the receptionist space. A head poked out from around the corner with a mouth full of food, crumbs along her mouth.

"Sasha, we need you to check in these reports before the doctor sees them," Armin said almost impatiently. Armin could have done this himself, he had the authority to even as an intern, but the doctor he was shadowing recommended to have the medical receptionist look into them instead since they had the files right in front of them.

"Yeah, yeah I'm coming! One of the nurses brought in these cookies and I just had to try one." Sasha brushed her hands on her scrub pants while walking back to the desk and sitting down. She took the clipboards and read them briefly before placing them in front of her and began typing.

"One or fifty?" Eren asked almost amused while rolling his eyes. Sasha glared at him before giggling and going back to her work. He looked at the clock almost in disdain. There were another 3 hours before he could take a break, or what he really meant was a coffee break.

A Code Blue was heard over the intercom and Armin sighed before beginning to walk in the direction he was needed.

"I'll catch up with you later Eren, hey also Mikasa wanted to speak to you when you had the chance. Might want to check in with her!" Eren blinked as he watched Armin rush off to the unit that the Code Blue was called. Armin was one of the critical care nurses and this happened frequently to him. The situation quickly becomes chaotic as the patient's nurse will begin CPR until the code team arrives. Eren had to assist in one that happened to one of the elderly patients here in the ICU. It is a very tense and stressful situation.

Eren swallowed at the memory, feeling his shoulders stiffen.

_He died, I let him die!_

Eren watched as a doctor quickly exited a room and began jogging down the hall towards where the Code Blue was called. He sighed before going to check in on the other patients in the ICU. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

When 8:00pm did come around, Eren made a b-line towards the hospital exit for a much-needed coffee. He didn't see Armin after the code blue was called, which wasn't a good sign. It was a rather quiet night otherwise. It was still light outside, the sun beginning to set over the city line. A warm breeze wafted in his way as he quickly made his way over to the small café across the street from the hospital. A few people who were sitting out on the patio smiled at him as he walked by. Regulars came to know Eren and the employees at this café always treated him kindly.

Eren felt his phone buzz in his pant pocket and pulled it out. It was Mikasa.

**Mikasa: When are you finished?**

_Eren: I'm working graveyard shift tonight. What's going on?_

Eren stuffed his phone in his pocket when he realized that he was blocking the doorway. He looked around to make sure nobody was just standing behind him before quickly opening the door and walking inside. He smiled politely to the barista and asked for a simple coffee with milk. Paying for the order, he walked over to the far side to wait for the beverage. He pulled his phone back out of his pocket to respond to Mikasa.

**Mikasa: I heard something interesting from a bird…**

Eren rolled his eyes, surely Jean or Connie or the both of them had already told her about their Friday night escapade that turned into an adventure from hell.

"Erwin-san, good to see you again!"

Eren didn't really think much of the other people talking inside the small café, he just kept scrolling through messages and things alike on his phone until his coffee was made up. The barista came over with the coffee and smiled at Eren who thanked in return. He stuffed his phone back in his pocket while picking up the coffee. He was quick to make an exit before stopping dead in his tracks.

_No…no!_

Eren's hand began to twitch a little with the coffee in his hand. He had to move and stop staring but he couldn't. What were the fucking odds of…?

Realizing that he was being stared- more so glared at, the mysterious stranger from last night looked over at him after breaking off the conversation with his companion. He looked at him for a moment before speaking to his blonde companion again. His eyes trailed to Eren and he smiled to the shorter person before going to order.

_Move you idiot._

It was then that Eren realized the stranger from last night had made his way over to him and was now standing in front of him. Eren swallowed, still holding the coffee stretched out in his hand like an idiot.

"Are you going to keep standing there like a moron? Or are you going to greet me?"

"Y-you…"

"Yes, me. What do you have a speech impediment or something? Speak English, brat."

Eren took a slow sip of his coffee to regain his senses. What are the fucking odds in this universe that he would run into this very same person again? The universe was laughing at him, truly. 

"You're a nurse."

Eren nodded slowly before looking over to the taller friend he came in with. He smiled politely to Eren before handing the other one a tea.

"I assume you're one of the hospital's nurses. I'm Erwin, it's nice to meet you. This is Levi." The one called Levi snorted before taking a slow sip of the tea. Eren looked between the two. The height difference was a little strange for the duo. Were they involved? No, that's impossible. Eren saw Levi with a total stranger last night.

"My father resides here; my sister was supposed to come to visit but stuff came up at work for her. I don't drive so I had to get Levi to drive me."

The wheels began to turn in Eren's head, finally thinking like a normal person. "Forgive me for asking if I'm incorrect, but is your father Greg Smith by chance?" Erwin gave Eren a look of surprise before smiling again. "Yes actually, he's in the ICU. I haven't been able to come to visit as much as I wanted but as you can tell between me and my sister work is hectic for both of us." Eren nodded in understanding. This was a whole less awkward now that there was a third person in the conversation.

"I work in the ICU. I usually take care of Mr. Smith. He misses Marie dearly."

Erwin huffed before nodding in agreement. He seemed almost conflicted at that comment but did not say anything about it.

Eren looked down at his phone quickly to look at the time.

"I must be heading back; it was nice to meet both of you. I'll probably see you again if you're coming in to see your father."

"Oi, brat."

Eren paused on his march towards the door before turning to look at who called him. Keeping his gaze steely, he looked back to Levi. "Stop calling me a brat, if you're not going to speak to me normally then don't speak to me at all." He saw Erwin's eyebrows rise at the comment, and just like that Eren and his ugly green scrubs walked out of the small cafe with his coffee in his hand.

_Finally, I can breathe again…_

Eren jogged across the empty road, and back into the hospital. The tension that radiated off the both of them was stifling. His friend, however, was way more polite and social than the one called Levi. He didn't know why the guy gave off such an intimidating aura, he was just a short little... _midget._

* * *

"That's the one?" Erwin inquired with an amused look.

Levi watched from inside the café as Eren ran across the street and back inside the hospital.

"Yeah, he's the one."


	3. Simple life

Eren scratched his forehead in frustration as he read a patient's file. He grew to understand various doctors' writings, but this was pushing it. Walking down the hall to room 3302 he walked into the private room. He read over the file once more before walking to the front of the bed and pulling the curtain aside.

"Hi there Marcel, my name is Eren and I'll be taking care of you until the doctor sees you okay?" The patient greeted Eren kindly, following along with Eren's pre-diagnostic screening to make sure there are no immediate concerns in the patient's health. Once that was completed, Eren placed the clipboard at the foot of the bed and pulled the curtain back as Marcel had requested. Walking back into the hallway he came to a slow pace and fully stopped at the far end of the receptionist desk, reaching for Greg's clipboard and going through it and checking for any updates made by the doctor that he should be made aware about.

As Eren was going through the report, another nurse came by and began explaining a few things regarding a patient near the end of the hall. Nodding, Eren excused himself as Sasha turned to him.

"Eren, this is Mr. Smith's son Erwin, he's here to visit his father." Erwin looked over to Eren and smiled politely. Levi was not to be seen.

"Nice to run into you again Erwin. Your father has strong vitals and is communicating well. Luckily the stroke did not have permanent damage to his systems. We do plan on keeping him here in the ICU for a bit longer before we consider discharging him." Erwin was listening earnestly to what Eren was telling him, nodding along in agreement with the RN. "Does Greg live on his own? Or does he have living accommodations?" Eren flipped through Greg's file, writing notes in as he spoke to Erwin. "He's living with my sister at the moment but considering that this has happened we might consider moving him into a home for further intensive care." Eren nodded as he made note of it, placing the file on the desk while writing notes down. "I made note of that, we at the hospital can help make those accommodations if necessary. Other than that, your father is awake so you can go see him." Eren smiled politely to Erwin.

"You always look so serious." Eren turned to look over at Sasha who was busy typing away. Eren shrugged as he put the clipboard under his arm, about to follow Erwin into the room until he saw someone walking down the hall. He looked out at the corner of his eye and paused in the hall as he watched Levi stride down the hall. This guy walked with grace and confidence as if he owned the place. He didn't acknowledge anything else around him, he just felt him staring directly at him from down the hall, as if he was staring right into his soul. Eren once again felt like he was unable to move.

"Where's Erwin?"

Eren looked to the door across from him and brought his hand out indicating that he was in the room visiting his father. It was awkward, silent, and tense. Eren didn't really know what to say. Every encounter was super awkward and weird. He didn't know what to say, considering that their first counter was nothing short of an embarrassment. 

"Do you have a name, brat?"

Eren's eyes focused on Levi before sighing and fully turning to look at him. "It's Eren if that'll get you to stop calling me a brat. I can't be that much younger than you." Levi gave him an amused smirk before shrugging a single shoulder. "You're a brat to me. Rudely invading personal privacy like you are entitled to." Eren's mouth opened to protest before he heard the sound of voices yelling beyond the swinging doors in the ER department. The ER department was just on the other side of the ER, only separated by large metal doors. He looked and saw paramedics rushing in with a stretcher. IV was administered and doctors were rushing along with them.

Levi watched as Eren's attention was fully focused on what was happening in the ER department. Suddenly the phone rang, and Eren turned his head at a few nurses rushing from down the hall towards the ER department. His focus went back on Sasha who was speaking on the phone.

"We have 10 nurses on duty at the moment. Eren Yeager is the head nurse at the moment Doctor." Sasha looked to Eren, who was giving Sasha a concerned look. She hung up the phone and went to her computer before paging Armin to the ER.

"Everything alright Sasha?"

"There was a major collision on a freeway and there are 3 critical patients, one has just arrived. Two are still en route. They need nurses in the ER." Eren's eyes became calculating as he processed the information. "Yeah okay, but Armin was dealing with a Code Blue and I haven't seen him since. He might be still dealing with the situation." Sasha shook her head, "No I saw him earlier-" Just as Sasha was about to explain when she saw Armin, they saw him rushing from a patient's room down the hall, didn't stop, just kept rushing towards the ER. Eren sighed and ran a hand through his hair. It wasn't even 9:00pm and shit was already hitting the fan. They heard more footsteps and it was Erwin coming out of his father's room. He nodded in the exit direction to Levi who walked over to Erwin, speaking in hushed tones. Erwin looked over to Eren and Sasha and smiled politely. "I thank you for taking care of my father, we will be leaving now. Sorry for coming in so late." Eren watched in slight confusion as they walked down the hall, with no further prompting. He noticed them talking to each other but didn't question it further.

He couldn't help but wonder what kind of relationship Erwin and his father had if his father lived at his sister's and not with him. It really wasn't any of his business, but the atmosphere was definitely different as Erwin came out of the room. Clearly, it wasn't an amicable one.

"Hey, Eren?"

Eren looked to Sasha, feeling tired already. "Yeah? What is it?" She pointed to his clipboard with Greg Smith's medical details and noticed a lone slip of paper on it. He placed the clipboard on the counter before taking the small folded slip of paper in his hand.

_Perhaps, talking at work isn't a good idea._

_090-2254-0040_

Eren looked from the paper to the empty hall, then to Sasha who was giving him a questioning look. Eren gave a frustrated groan before shoving the paper in his scrub pocket and going on with his shift. 3:00am couldn't come any faster…

* * *

Mornings sucked.

Except if you work overnight, it isn't morning at all.

Eren rolled over in bed to look at his clock and saw that it was 12:45pm. He usually didn't work overnights but if they needed to be covered, he couldn't really say no to his manager. Getting out of bed was a slow and gruelling process, he wanted to stay in bed all day. Sadly, that wasn't an option. He had work at 4:00pm and didn't really have all the time in the world to be doing nothing. Stretching his back and turning both ways, his eyes came in contact with a slip of paper on his nightstand.

Right. Levi had apparently thought it was a good idea to leave him his number. Guess he had a fetish for voyeurism. He picked up the sheet of paper and looked at the neat cursive writing. It almost looked feminine. Why was Levi suddenly so interested in him? If anything, Eren was a little creeped out. But there was something about Levi that piqued his natural curiosity like he had to know more. He had an aloof atmosphere around him, looking uninterested in everything around him but almost  _too_ aware of everything around him at the same time.

Eren shook his head after staring at the sheet of paper for a few moments, placing it back on his nightstand before going to take a shower to wake himself up. Eren knew it wasn't realistic to hope in his situation, but he hoped the hospital would be a little quieter tonight compared to last night. He grabbed a towel from the closet and turned on the bathroom light. He began to strip as he ran the water, making sure it was hot enough to his liking. This is how his life went. Wake up, shower, think about the day, things that had to be done and go to work. It was a simple life. He didn't expect anything else to come out of it really. Apart from occasionally going out with his friends, he lived a quiet and private life. Working as a nurse didn't really leave much of social life.

As he let the hot water run down his body, he couldn't help but wonder why Levi would even show any form of interest in him. Their initial meeting was just short of an epic disaster, and they clearly lived in  _very_  different worlds. Clearly, he had a close friendship with Erwin, the blonde who came to see his father at the hospital last night. Eren cursed as soap got into his eyes, deciding not to concern himself with frivolous things like that for now. Maybe he could get input from Armin and Mikasa if he got the chance on break tonight maybe he could confide in them about this _…situation._ Well, maybe not Mikasa.

Eren thought back to a text from Jean who had asked what he was doing on Thursday. Leave it to Jean, asking what he was doing days away meanwhile Eren didn't even know what he was doing to eat for dinner. Eren let out a tired sigh he shut off the water. It really didn't feel like a Sunday… Then again, sometimes he couldn't even think about what day of the week it was.

* * *

Levi walked through the upper level of his house, enjoying the silence of the vast space compared to the late-night hours where it's loud music and people chatting. Also, with a side of loud explicit noises coming from various individuals. It was still early in the day, but Levi had to make orders before 4:00pm for the bar and make sure nothing around the club needed maintenance. The club residents usually kept to themselves during these hours of the day, most of them worked. So, they weren't here. A few of them worked here and preferred to live on the grounds as well. Levi didn't mind that. In fact, he encouraged it.

Levi walked past Erwin's room and noticed that the door was open. He poked his head inside and saw that nobody was there. He darted his head around to see if he was somewhere that Levi missed, but he was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he was in the kitchen or somewhere else? Levi and Erwin have been friends for years, dating back to childhood when they met on the playgrounds. They had stopped talking for a few years once they peaked adulthood, but life works in mysterious ways and they were brought together again.

"Leviii!"

It took every fibre in his body not to turn around and run the other way. He looked down at the bottom of the steps and saw Hange walking with Erwin from the club room. She was waving like an idiot, per usual.  _Freaky four-eyed idiot..._

"Oi, indoor voice four eyes. You're so fucking loud not everyone wants to hear your loud voice." He began making his way down the stairs as Hange waved her hand, completely dismissing what he just said. "We're going to the kitchen to make coffee, join us?" Levi simply ignored her as he made it to the ground level, and they all made their way towards the kitchen. Levi looked to Erwin who was unusually stoic for himself.

"How did your visit go?" He asked.

"Not the greatest. The usual. Why don't you come to visit more…or why are you so late, visiting hours are almost over…? I thought you weren't even going to come…Where's Marie?" Levi snorted and crossed his arms over his chest as they walked down the hall under the staircase into the kitchen. Levi knew that he and his father didn't have the best father-son relationship, hence why his father is closer to his sister. Erwin always tried his best to be a good son to his father but once he began climbing in ranks at his work, he was straddled with more responsibility. Ending with him never really seeing his family. It deteriorated even more upon him finding out that his son was homosexual. His sister Marie was more understanding of the situation.

"Levi?"

Levi looked over to Hange who was holding a box of green tea. Erwin was also looking at him with concern. He knew what she was asking instantly. He sighed and rested his chin on his hand as he leaned more onto the counter.

"Don't burn the leaves this time, idiot."

Levi watched as Hange moved around the kitchen, setting coffee to brew and putting a kettle of water on for tea.

"So, Levi, I heard some interesting things that happened the other night…" She gave Levi and mischievous look while waggling her eyebrows at him. Erwin coughed behind his hand while trying not to laugh. He  _also_ had heard the very same interesting thing. He didn't want to bring it up unless someone else did, simply because he knew how Levi would react.

"Nothing happened, you should mind your own business."

Hange's eyes went wide with excitement as she placed her hands on the kitchen island almost sticking her face in Levi's. He instantly sat back in his chair, giving her an annoyed look. "That's not what Reiner told me! Apparently, you have a new…" She gave him a knowing look. "Plaything."

"I have no idea what you're talking about Hange." Levi was getting increasingly annoyed with her pestering. Hange had the ears of an elephant and sometimes it got her into trouble.

"Hmm…what was his name? Eren?" She rubbed her chin comically while looking at him from the corner of her eye.

Levi rubbed the bridge of his nose and glared at Erwin whose shoulders were moving in silent laughter. His eyes moved past Hange and then he looked back at her almost amused, but still annoyed.

"Hange?"

"Hah?"

"The kettle."

"Oh shit!"


	4. Coffee conversation

After the kettle incident, the three companions sat around the kitchen island consuming their beverages. It was quiet for the most part, but comfortable silence. Levi always chose his friends wisely, and this was one of the reasons why the people at the table at the moment were his closest friends. There were no forced conversations, and silence didn’t mean there had to be a conversation. He, however, had something to say.

“Back to what you heard Hange, there’s nothing going on. Just a little brat who stuck his nose into the wrong thing. I think he’s quite scared or put off by me, to be honest.” Hange let out a cackle and pointed at him with her index finger while her hands were holding her coffee mug. “I think everyone who first meets you is put off by you. It’s normal that only the people who come here regularly or live here see under that.”

Levi looked into his cup, seeing his reflection in the light green tea. He lifted his eyes and looked to Hange and over to Erwin. “That’s only natural for someone like myself. However, the idea of taming someone so rebellious is…tempting.” Hange let out a squeal as she latched onto Micke who quietly padded into the kitchen. He looked to her confusingly as she pointed at Levi. “Levi might have taken on a submissive!” Micke blinked a few times, his mouth opening to say something, but Levi shook his head and Micke nodded in understanding. He let out a laugh and looked to Hange who was pouting at Levi, instantly shattering her fantasy. “This is Levi we’re talking about Hange, the closest thing he’ll show interest to is cleaning.” Levi glared at the duo as they began laughing openly at him. It irked him when they took turns jabbing at his sexuality and his libido.

Deciding to block out the obnoxious duo, Levi went in his own head. Hange had the right idea but it was a lot more complicated than that. Eren had no idea what kind of lives they led. It wasn’t even out of the realm of possibility that he never heard of BDSM before. Then again, most people have at least heard the term before. He had to admit Eren was an interesting person, the most interesting that he has seen in a long time. He took his job seriously and was proud of it as he saw at the hospital. He’d have to take a…more deft touch to the situation.

It was evident Eren knew little of the world he lived in as he thought Marco was in trouble, which was why he interfered. Marco was one of the uncollared submissives that also lived here at the residence. There were a few uncollared ones here that didn’t have a master. There were also plenty of masters who had no submissive. He was one of them. But Levi didn’t just choose anyone. He hadn’t had a submissive in almost 10 years, more focusing on building his club and business. Admittingly, he missed the companionship that came with a submissive as they were more tightly knit and went deeper than any regular relationship. 

_That's exactly why it's so hard to commit to one..._

Coming back to, he noticed that Erwin had left, and it was just Hange and Micke standing at the other end talking amongst themselves. Marco was also in the kitchen with Bertolt. Deciding that his paperwork had been neglected long enough, he waved off Hange and Micke and made his way into his office to sort out the hell waiting for him there.

Before he left the kitchen, he turned to face Hange.

“Hange, do you have a stock list of what I need to order for the bar?” Hange finished her sentence and then looked to Levi in confusion before registering what he said, and she nodded. “I left it on your desk.” Levi nodded and proceeded out of the kitchen in the direction of his office. He paused again before looking over at Hange again. “The bar needs to be rearranged; I’ll get back to you later at how it should be arranged.” Hange groaned and looked to the ceiling while Micke chuckled. “It’s a bar Levi, how many times does it need to be changed?!”

Her complaint fell on deaf ears, as Levi was already out of hearing range.

* * *

  _Coffee time…’_ Eren muttered to himself as he waited for the elevator to take him to the main floor of the hospital. The first quarter of his shift had moved fairly quickly to his mercy, and he hoped the rest of it went as quickly.

“Eren!”

Eren turned to the voice calling him as the elevator dinged, reaching the 6th floor. Armin came rushing over, getting into the elevator with Eren. Eren looked at him amusingly, the blonde out of breath. “On your break?” Armin nodded as he watched the elevator go down each level. It stopped on the 3rd floor, and they both scooted over to make room for a nurse with a patient in a wheelchair.

“I had to get out of there before anyone else called my name. I saw you heading towards the elevator so that was my cue to book it.” Eren let out a laugh as Armin started talking to the female nurse who was transporting a patient over to the neurological unit for an MRI. The nurse and patient got off on the 2nd floor, Armin wishing them a good day in the process before the doors shut.

“It’s good that I ran into you actually, I have something I want your input on Armin.” Armin blinked a few times, looking at him quizzically before putting his hand on his hip and looking at Eren with skepticism. “You? Asking for advice? When did you last have coffee?” Eren rolled his eyes as they made their way to the entrance of the hospital, the sun brightly shining through the big windows into the front foyer.

“Listen, did Jean or Connie tell you about what happened Friday night?”

Armin let out a short laugh as they came to the cross light. “If you mean the disaster on Friday night, I caught the end of it from Mikasa. She heard it from Connie. I haven’t heard from Jean in a few days actually. No idea what’s going on with him.” They both watched as the light turned green and the walking signal flashed. “Yeah, he’s been pretty busy lately from what he told me. New construction site being planned near the end of town.” They made it across the street and walked over to the café. Café on Main has been at the same spot on the corner for as long as Eren could remember, probably even before he got the job at the hospital.

“But what is it you wanted to ask me about?” Armin asked as they walked in.

“Eren! Armin! Good to see you!”

Both said men looked to the counter to see the same short blonde girl standing at the counter, waving happily. Both men smiled at her, unable to resist that smile. 

“Historia! How are you?” Eren walked quietly beside Armin as they approached the counter. “I’ll explain on the way back.” He said quietly as Armin caught on, nodding as they let Historia take their orders. Historia looked to Eren as she was making her drinks. “So Eren, I saw you talking to Erwin and Levi last night. Are you friends with them?” Armin looked to Eren, cocking a brow at him in question.

Eren paused, not entirely sure how to answer the question. He didn’t really know Erwin; they had only just met through Levi. And Levi…yeah, he definitely wasn’t indulging in _how_ exactly the two met.

“I know Erwin because I’m taking care of his father in the ICU. I have never met Levi until now.” Lest they know, the better. Probably. Historia nodded as she handed Armin his latte. “I was curious, I was just going to say I’ve known Erwin for a while since he is also frequent to this café. I was just surprised is all.” Eren smiled politely while taking his coffee. “Yeah, I wouldn’t even say I know them, more or less acquaintances,” Historia said that Erwin came here often. He supposed it made sense, he had no reason to really look out for him until now. Now that he knows who he is, he’d be more aware of it. They waved to Historia, making their exit back to the hospital. As they cleared the entrance, Armin questioned him again about what Eren wanted to know.

After explaining in embarrassing detail, they were back in the ICU department and Armin hadn’t said a word since he started talking. He had a feeling that would be the case. But Armin was better the one to ask about this, and not Mikasa. She probably would kill him and everyone else before even responding.

Armin placed his coffee on the counter while half saying hello to Sasha and looking back to Eren. Sasha placed a clipboard on the counter for Eren to look at, Eren taking it in his hand while flipping through the sheets.

“So," Armin started, "You listened to Jean of all people and ended up going to a club. A bondage club.” Sasha gave them a ‘what the hell’ face before turning and going to work at the other end of her desk, not wanting to invade privacy. Eren nodded, knowing Armin rephrased the sentence to express how dumb Eren sounded. 

“And now… This Levi person wants to meet you again. But you want to go back to the very place you want to avoid alone? He also gave you his number, right?”

“Yes, yes Armin!”

“But you also think this guy is creepy and short?”

Wait, wait. Had he said that?

Ignoring the last sentence, Eren put his hands on Armin’s shoulders.

“Listen Armin, I know this asking for a lot. But I rarely ask for anything.” Armin pursed his bottom lip and nodded, agreeing reluctantly with the statement. “When do you plan on going?” Eren huffed while scratching his neck. “When are you off next?” Armin had a thoughtful look on his face as he recalled his schedule for the next two weeks. “Today is Sunday… Tuesday.” Eren’s eyes went wide. “Okay, same. Wow, that works perfectly actually.” Armin rolled his eyes, taking his coffee and sticking his hand in his pocket before walking to the nurse’s office to check in from break. “You think it’s perfect, wait until Mikasa finds out.”

Eren watched Armin leave. Why couldn’t Armin just dumb himself down to his level for once? Eren sighed before pulling his phone out and looked at the time. Of course, when he hoped time would go fast, it just goes ten times slower.

* * *

When Tuesday did come around, Eren was getting cold feet. Along the way, they managed to get Jean to come with them, reluctantly. Connie was busy leading a work project, and Eren managed to convince Jean that this was all his fault to start so the least he could do is come with them. Armin had decided it was best he drove since he never drank. So, they all decided to meet at Armin’s apartment before leaving. Solid plan, right?

“Eren…this was all your idea. Stop being a fucking pussy, if this guy wanted to meet you again, I’d say go for it.” Jean was putting on his coat, while Armin was putting on shoes, holding onto the wall as his one hand was putting on a shoe, deciding it was best that he did not get in the middle of their banter.

Eren turned on his heel to Jean. “You’re missing the point completely; this guy has an aura that just demands all attention. I don’t know how to approach the situation. I mean what the hell am I doing, really? I never thought about this once in my life before you dragged our asses out.”  Jean laughed as he zipped up the black coat. “Doesn’t make it my fault, as you claim.”

“Come on Eren, you have us with you. Usually, you’re the complete opposite of this, what’s got you freaked out?” Eren shuffled on his black converse. “I don’t know, suddenly I feel shy and nervous. It’s totally not like me I know.”

Jean opened the door while giving Eren a funny face. “You sound like a girl.”

Eren glared at Jean while moving to follow him out the door, “Yeah and you look like a fucking horse, Romeo.” Armin sighed, being the last out the door to make sure his apartment didn't get raided on their outing. The things he did for his friends... when did he ever get a wingman? 


	5. Who is Levi?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Musical inspiration: State of Non-Return by OM.
> 
> Enjoy.

While they were en route to the club, Eren had explained that you need to purchase a trial membership in order to gain access to the club. Armin expected that much. Luckily individuals interested were given a trial membership for a week before having to purchase an actual membership. Armin didn’t expect to return after tonight, but he had to get in with them. So, he went with that.

While Armin was signing papers and documents, Eren and Jean sat on a bench near the entrance. They knew firsthand that the stack of papers did take a few minutes to go through. Some of them you actually wanted to read too. Eren watched as a purple-haired lady walked out from the hall- _that hall_ and into the foyer. She was wearing a pair of black slacks and had a leather vest on that hugged her body loosely and her arms were bare. She wore a pair of leather bracers that went halfway up her forearms. She also donned a pair of goggles on her head. Eren had to assume that was a part of a costume of some sort. Nobody wore giant goggles like that unironically. She looked over at them sitting on the bench, smiling at them before making her way into the club. She spoke to the bouncers briefly before stepping inside. Eren noticed that it was the same bouncers from the other night as well. Would they recognize him and try to give him a hard time? He really hoped not.

“I’m finished.”

Eren and Jean looked up to Armin as he walked over to the two. The three men made their way to the entrance in silence, the bouncers asking for ID upon arrival. Once they cleared the bouncers, they stepped inside, the loud music instantly taking over their senses. Eren was silently relieved that neither one of them recognized him from their previous encounter. Or maybe they did and just didn't say anything. He hoped it was the former.

“So Eren-” Armin’s eyes were darting around the place, taking in everything. Clearly, his brain was working miles a minute to process everything. “-do you know where this guy is?”

Eren was also looking around, but he didn’t see any sign of Levi.

“No, I have no idea. But for now, let’s get a seat so we don’t look like idiots.” Eren’s eyes were still scanning the surroundings of the club but he didn’t recognize any faces, sans the purple-haired lady who was manning the bar. She was a rather loud lady, her laugh clearly heard over the music as she spoke to guests and made drinks. They decided to take a booth near the bar, far off to the left where they weren’t so noticeable.

“I’m going to get a beer. Do you guys want anything?”

“I’ll have one too. Nothing too strong though." Jean quipped.

Eren looked to Armin. “Did you want something too? I know you’re driving tonight, but other than alcohol.” Armin shook his head, thanking Eren for asking. Eren nodded before turning away to walk over to the bar. He felt suddenly uncomfortable walking alone through this place, his long-sleeved plaid feeling like it was beginning to suffocate him. The hood of his shirt was adding extra heat to his neck, feeling the sweat beginning to form along his nape. The long hair wasn’t helping either. Even though it was in a bun, it still was a nuisance at times. He made it over to the counter when the purple-haired lady came over while cleaning a glass.

“What can I get for you, my dear?”

“Just two Asahi. Please, and thank you.” The lady nodded, bending over into the cooler under the bar for two bottles of the Japanese brew. She popped the caps off of them and placing them on the counter. “That’s 1300 Yen.” Eren paid for the beers, making a mental note that Jean owed him, he thanked the bartender and made his way back to their table. As soon as he sat down, he took a big swig of the beer, knowing he’ll be needing more of it throughout the night. His eyes trailed over to Jean who was staring off into space or looking at something. His eyes followed to where he was looking, and he almost choked on the beer that was still in his mouth.

  _That was…_

Eren gained his composure and coughed lightly, the beer stinging his throat. He didn’t need to explain that much detail about what happened the other night. He decided to instead ask Jean what was going through his mind.

“See something interesting Jean?” He gave the absent-faced Jean a suggestive look.

Jean was watching the freckled-black haired man walk around the side of the club they were on, picking up empty glasses and the like. He would briefly pause to speak to patrons sitting at tables before moving on. He was wearing leather slacks, was walking around barefoot as well. And nothing else. Jean shook his head before turning back to his beer. “No, not at all.”

Eren leaned back in the comfy leather seating as he looked over to Armin. Armin didn’t seem uncomfortable, but he really didn’t know what to do with himself in this kind of situation. It was new for him, heck it was new for all of them. “You okay Armin?” He asked.

Armin nodded, looking over to Eren. “I’m fine, I’m just surprised at the lack of…modesty. I mean, it's nothing I haven't see before I'm a medical student after all.” Eren and Jean both nodded in understanding.

“Oi, Eren didn’t you say you had this guys number? Why haven’t you called him or texted him? How mediocre are you?” Eren, in turn, punched Jean’s shoulder who cursed and called Eren some profanities. Jean was telling Eren what he already knew, but he thought it would have been a better idea to go in person than to message him. Sadly, spotting the guy was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Eren’s eyes made his way back to the bar and his eyes widened in shock.

_E-Erwin?! What the hell?!_

Armin and Jean watched as Eren slowly got up, eyes fixated on the bar. They both looked to where Eren was looking and couldn’t understand what he was so focused on.

“Eren?” Armin questioned, confused.

“I’ll be back. Hold on a sec.” Eren got up out of his seat, and for the second time, that night made his way back to the bar. As he made his approach, Erwin was seated at the bar speaking to the purple-haired lady. Did they know each other? It seemed that every one that came here knew someone one way or another. Feeling like he was being watched, Erwin looked over, his eyes opening in shock.

“Eren?”

Hange’s mouth dropped open in shock as she too looked over at Eren. _This was the one Levi was speaking about!_ Hange’s eyes scoured the club like a hawk and scowled. Where the hell was that small fry? He was always missing at the most crucial of times!

“Erwin, I certainly wasn’t expecting to see you here.” He shook Erwin’s hand in greeting, acknowledging each other. Erwin let out a chuckle, “Well I actually live here. I was definitely not expecting to find you here.”

Eren made an ‘o’ shape with his mouth in surprise. “Y-you live here. But how?”

Erwin was about to answer his question before Hange interjected.

“This is also a house! One side is a house. This is a club. And I’m Hange!” It got awkwardly silent for a few moments before Eren cleared his throat. “Nice to meet you Hange. I’m Eren. I know Erwin because his father is in my unit at the hospital. I'm an RN.” Eren paused before speaking again. "Registered Nurse." Hange made a face of recognition before nodding. "A smartie! I like it. On top of this fun gig-" She gestured to the long bar, "-I also take care of first-aid and maintenance. I'm basically the giant band-aid for this place!" 

“This is also a house?” Both Erwin and Hange nodded. “Some of the members live here, or the people who work here also live here. It just makes things easier for everyone. Most of us have known each other for years actually. We don't see many new faces here actually.” Hange smiled sheepishly while scratching the back of her neck. She looked over at Marco who walked over with a few glasses on a tray. Hange took the used glasses and placed them in a small portable dishwasher that was also underneath the bar. She handed him back the tray while giving him a beaming smile.

“Y-you…”

Eren and Erwin paused their conversation to look over to Marco who was looking at Eren with almost shock.

“Me?” Eren pointed to himself. Marco shook his head while smiling to himself, covering his lip with his finger. Deciding not to speak further, he walked off in the direction of where Armin and Jean were sitting. “That was…unusual?” Eren looked off to Marco who was busily wiping down tables and making things look clean. He was kind of grateful that he spared him the mortification of openly explaining how he recognized him. Maybe he sensed the uncomfortable aura around him? Marco was good for that kind of thing.

“Ah, yes. That’s Marco. He also lives here. He’s what we call here ‘submissives.’ He’s also the one that you ran into Levi with.” Eren’s head turned so fast he thought he gave himself horrible whiplash. All he got was Hange giving him a knowing smile before going to wipe down the bar top and speak to a few people who had walked over to the bar. He heard chuckling off to his side, Erwin watching things unfold around him. Eren had his hands flat on the bar top while giving Erwin an incredulous look. “I’m assuming everyone here knows who Levi is?” Erwin this time came right out laughing, deep baritone making Eren shift on his feet. “Eren, this is Levi’s place. He’s the owner of this establishment.”

Surely now, Eren was gaping like a fish.

Hearing Jean calling his name, Eren decided that now was a good time to head back to his table. He felt very out of place, and suddenly very self-conscious of his surroundings. He dismissed himself from Erwin’s presence who watched him walk back to his table. He didn’t come alone; he knew that much now. Two other men accompanied him, one with blonde hair and another with about the same length of hair as Eren, and also had stubble forming along his chin. Hange came back over, resting her elbows on the bar top.

“So? Where is Levi anyway? He’s usually out here by now.” Erwin gave Hange a sideways glance before looking back to Eren.  _What an interesting fellow._

“Aa. I think he was prepping a scene. Should be here momentarily.”

“Oho, Levi’s participating tonight? Now, this I haveta see!” Hange drummed her hands on the bar top, looking for any sign of Marco. Hange didn't like to use the word, but it was the best described one. Marco was kind of a gopher for her, covering her breaks and cleaning the tables. Technically she was supposed to do all of that but managed to convince Levi that she could use someone helping her. It was more productive on her part, especially on the busier nights like Halloween or New Years. When Levi first told her about Eren and how they encountered each other, she couldn't help but feel like she contributed in the most ironic of ways. She was not an acknowledged mistress here, merely staff; therefore she was not entitled to give punishment. Levi, however, had witnessed Marco acting snippy to a rather particular guest and took it upon himself to deal with the situation. 

Erwin continuously watched as Eren took his seat, both of the other men clearly bombarding him with questions. Levi rarely participated in scenes of any kind, and when he did, people usually paused their own activities to watch. Erwin felt like if Eren wanted to get to know Levi on a more personal level, he couldn’t have picked a better night to do so.


	6. Rag Doll

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains descriptions of sexual content and BDSM-related activity M/M. I had to tweak this one a little. I’m good at writing scenes and everything else but when it comes to the gonads and sex scenes… It takes me a bit longer to write. 
> 
> Musical inspiration: Not Unlike the Waves by Agalloch. 
> 
> Enjoy.

“So, wait. That blonde guy over there knows Levi?” Eren sighed and scratched the side of his face. He was starting to think he was in way over his head with this whole ordeal. “It’s a lot more complicated than that, the blonde that you see over there, he’s Mr. Smith’s son. You know. Greg?” Armin’s mouth dropped open. “Actually?! Wow, small world.” Eren snorted. Got that right.

Eren was in the middle of taking another swig of his beer when he noticed his surroundings have become somewhat quieter. There was still noise, people minding their own business, and the music playing of course but there seemed to be an awed take on the atmosphere. Two people walked by, speaking in hushed voices, walking towards the other end of the club. Eren also noticed Erwin and Hange had their focus on a certain spot across the dance floor.

Eren followed their eyes to what had so many people’s attention and he froze.

It was _him._

 _He_ was here.

But what the hell was he doing?

Armin and Jean looked over to where Eren was looking and Jean tilted his head to the side, observing what was going on. “That’s him eh? He’s fucking short. What, did puberty skip him or something?" Jean looked over to Eren and let out a snort when Eren didn't reply, his attention was completely on the small crowd of people forming.

Eren couldn’t tear his eyes away even if he wanted, he knew he was doing something important so it wasn’t like he could just walk over and talk to the guy. Levi was currently speaking to someone he had not ever seen before and was holding a collar in his hand. The person bent their upper body, neck and head inclined towards Levi as he applied the collar, experienced hands using deft movements to make sure it was snug in place but not causing discomfort. He led the young man over to a bench and let him sit there. The bench was large and wide, and also had what looked to be cuffs and ankle restraints on the legs of the bench. Levi had turned around and was in the process of lighting candles on a wooden table that was nearby. Eren’s curiosity was piqued, wondering why he was lighting so many candles. There were various colours and sizes too. The person on the bench was patiently sitting there with his hands resting on his thighs. This guy was in a pair of black boxers, and the collar. Nothing else.

Levi turned around and spoke to the person quietly. There seemed to be a mutual understanding between them as the person nodded to what he was saying, there was no tension or restraint. After a few minutes, the man laid back on the bench on his back. Eren’s eyes narrowed in confusion. Why was he lying down? What the hell? 

Eren briefly noticed Jean getting up, but he didn’t notice where he went. He also heard Armin asking where he was going but didn’t hear his response. Not that he really was paying attention anyway. Eren was trying to understand what was unfolding in front of him, it was beginning to feel very wrong.

Eren’s eyes were glued to Levi as he watched Levi pick up a beige coloured candle, turning to face the person lying on the bench. Levi said something to the man, and he nodded. Eren felt like his eyes bugged out of his head as he watched Levi bend over and pour the wax on the man’s chest. He squirmed but didn’t resist. He did it again, and the man arched a bit off the bench. His arms weren’t strapped down, neither were his feet. Eren felt like he was going to have a heart attack. What was happening and why was it happening? People enjoyed getting hot wax poured on them? 

Levi had placed the beige candle down and picked up a green coloured pillar. Eren could have sworn the guy on the bench had a hard-on. It was pretty evident even from where he was sitting that he had a tent forming in the boxers. Eren swallowed. He felt like he stepped into something utterly out of his range. He looked over to Armin who was on his phone, clearly not wanting any part of what Eren was witnessing. He didn’t blame him. It was…different.

Eren almost wanted to cover his face in embarrassment and mortification when Levi had pulled off the guy’s boxers leaving him stark naked with his erection hard and straining against his abdomen. He began pouring the wax along his lower stomach, and around his cock but not on it. Eren couldn’t help but open his mouth in shock. People did that?! Eren had to take a minute to picture what hot wax on his dick would feel like, and he honestly couldn’t picture it even if he wanted to. It just seemed so foreign to him. God, he was starting to act like a virgin.

The man on the bench seemed to be sweating a bit, his skin shining in the dimmed lighting of the club. His mouth was opened, small moans evidentially pouring from his mouth. He poured a small dribble of the wax on his cock, and the man let out a louder moan, biting his bottom lip. His mouth was moving, probably speaking to Levi. Eren couldn’t help but find the moans causing an unwilling reaction in him, as he shifted on his seat. The man on the bench also had a rather nicely shaped dick, he couldn’t help but wonder…

A particularly sharp cry was emitted from the man’s mouth as more wax was poured on his dick, the tip glistening from pre-cum.

“Uh, Eren…”

Eren looked quickly to Armin, to the scene then back to Armin.

“Y-yeah? What is it?”

“You…”

Eren felt his face heating up, knowing exactly what Armin was talking about. He had a brow arched and was giving Eren an amused face. “I’m going to go find Jean, he went off somewhere. I’ll be... back…” He trailed off, clearly wanting to give his friend some space. Eren watched in continued embarrassment as his friend got up and walked towards the bar, deciding to start there. Great. His best friend with a blonde bob witnessed his boner from people with candle wax fetishes.

Upon slowly looking back, he noticed that Levi had applied a rather _thick_ silver ring around the base of the man’s cock. He had placed the green candle down and now had a purple one in his hand. He was standing straight over the man, his body aligned with his. Strange thing was, he wasn’t looking down at the man in front of him.

He was staring right at him.

Eren felt like he was riveted to the spot, his mouth and throat going dry. He felt a tingle go from his neck all the way down his spine from the intensity of the stare Levi was giving him. He was across the room for shit's sake, and Eren felt like his intense presence had gotten even more intense. Levi didn’t take his eyes off of Eren as he slowly poured the purple wax on the man’s neck, watching him writhe, clearly in pleasure. As Eren’s eyes observed what was going on further, he noticed that Levi also had a prominent bulge in his pants. Clearly from what he was doing.

Or was he because he knew Eren was watching and was getting the same reaction?

But Eren wasn’t into that kind of stuff. He hadn’t gotten laid in a while, and the sounds were getting to him. That's all, nothing more.

Levi’s eyes finally averted from Eren’s, as he stepped around the man. Intending to bring this scene to a close, he poured a rather large glob of purple wax on the underside of the man’s penis. The man was now shuddering, loud and audible sentences coming from his mouth.

_”P-please Sir… Please let me cum!”_

Levi reached forward, slowly removing the ring from his cock, dried wax coming off with the ring. Right after, he poured another glob of wax along the side of his penis and he came, long and hard. Eren watched, completely enraptured as ribbons of cum sprayed onto the man’s abdomen and stomach. He laid there for a few moments, breathing heavily.

Eren felt his own dick now officially straining against his tight skinny jeans. Why did he wear skinny jeans again? Why do men wear skinny jeans when they have penises? Who thought that was a smart idea? 

There were a few rounds of applause as Levi turned around and placed the candle back on the table, blowing the rest of them out. He reached under the table into a small wicker basket and brought out a large, black towel to give to the man who was still lying on the bench. He had bent over and kissed the man on the forehead, speaking to him quietly with his hand on his forehead. The man nodded back to Levi, who was now blushing, clearly at the words Levi was telling him. He helped clean the man and took the towel from him before handing another one to him. The man wrapped the towel tightly around his shoulders, smiling to a person standing nearby who said something to him.

Levi was now cleaning the station he used, organizing everything into containers. The man soon got up off the bench, standing off to the side as Levi wiped down the bench.

After everything was cleared, Eren watched as Levi escorted the man out of the club room.

After they left, everyone seemed to just go back into a regular business, the room getting noticeably louder again.

Eren huffed, cheeks puffing as he rested his hands on his thighs looking down to his now painful erection. He refused to acknowledge that witnessing someone getting hot wax getting poured on their body made him hot and bothered, but it did.

He looked over to the bar and saw Hange and Erwin talking again. He scratched the underside of his bun, deciding that he needed to get up again before he gave himself another boner. He got up, fixing his jeans and making sure that there was no evident bump in his jeans. His eyes scanned the room, looking for any signs of Armin or Jean. He was so engrossed in what was happening that he didn’t really realize that they had gone off one at a time to do other things.

Well. Jean did. Armin left because he noticed Eren was getting a little happy.

“Brat.”

Eren almost jumped out of his skin as he turned around, the very same man standing there while cleaning his hands. He had a small white cloth in his hands and had it cleaning in between his fingers. Levi had changed into different attire and was now wearing black from head to toe. He had plain black dress shoes on, along with black slacks. He donned a simple black v-neck short-sleeved shirt that left nothing to the imagination in terms of the stature of the male. Eren was getting too many shockers tonight, how has he not dropped from a heart attack yet?

“Enjoy the show?”

Eren cleared his throat, not knowing what exactly to say.

“I never knew that was… a thing. He seemed to enjoy it a lot.”

Levi let out an amused ‘hn’ noise, before motioning for Eren to walk with him to the bar. “We all have our own tastes here.” He looked to Hange and gave a gesture to her and she nodded, going to work to make him his drink. “Some prefer to be restrained or flogged.” Hange slid a small glass full of ice and an amber liquid towards him before turning to talk to Erwin. He took the glass in his hand and looked back to Eren. “And others prefer things to be a little more painful.” He took a sip from the glass. “So, brat. What are you?”

Eren didn’t say anything, bringing his upper lip into his mouth.

“I’m none of those things.”

Levi arched a brow at him while taking another sip of the drink.

“I understand that I left you my information on your clipboard, but I didn’t actually expect you to come back. I feel like you were put off by my forwardness.” Levi’s eyes shifted to Erwin and he looked back to Eren. “I see my companions here have already met you. You know Erwin I noticed, Hange is my bartender. There are many others here.” Levi felt like changing the subject might help diffuse the situation.

“I knew that much.” He retorted, almost snarkily. 

Hange paused, her head turning ever so slightly in shock.

The way Eren let that sentence escape his lips was not missed by anybody in close proximity.

Levi sighed, almost a hiss through his teeth.

“Well I’m glad you know that much or else I’ll begin to think you’re a fucking idiot.” Levi rested his elbow on the bar top while holding his drink in his other hand on his thigh. He rested his chin on his hand while staring at Eren, eyes observing every detail of the man in front of him. 

“How old are you, brat?”

“My name is Eren, I’m starting to think it’s you that’s the fucking idiot.”

Eren heard but didn’t see, a spurting noise from behind the bar followed by a male chuckle, clearly Erwin. Levi didn’t respond, simply watching Eren with a levelled, but cool gaze. He let out a humourless chuckle while draining the rest of the glass and placing it on the bar top. The sound of ice clinking and a definite 'clunk' noise from Levi placing the glass on the wood top a little more forcibly, was not unheard by Eren. The slight smirk from his chuckle dropped so fast, and he looked Eren dead in the eye, his expression no longer engaging in pleasantries.

“I’ll humour you on that one. You should consider yourself grateful that you aren’t mine, otherwise, you’d be over this bar top so fast you wouldn’t even be able to say ‘stop.’” Levi got up, looking over to Hange and Erwin who quickly looked like they were minding their own business and not snooping on their conversation. He looked back to Eren, giving him an amused smirk while nodding in Hange's direction. "You should ask her how many people have been caned or flogged over this bar top. More than she can count in her hands, I bet." His smirk dropped, expressionless face looking to Hange. 

“Face the bar four-eyes, it looks empty. Where’s Marco?”

Eren felt like he was now being ignored, that he wasn’t worth his attention any further. He watched as Levi and Hange conversed for a few more moments before Levi turned and was about to walk off until Eren spoke.

“I’m 26.”

Levi paused, looking over his shoulder to Eren.

“Good. I’ll keep that number in mind for the next time you decide to mouth off to me like that, brat.” And with that, he strode off, confidence ever-so in his strides. Eren felt like he was going to explode, was he calling him a brat just to rile him up? Eren jolted when he felt hands grabbing his shoulders from behind and shaking him. He removed the hands and turned around on his stool. Hange was looking at him like he had 5 heads.

“What are you?! Stupid?!” She tapped the side of his head with two fingers, and Eren glared at her. Erwin was leaning on his hand that was on his thigh while shaking his head and chuckling. He looked over to Eren saying, “I haven’t heard anyone talk like that towards Levi, ever, I think.”

Eren raised his hands like he had no idea what was going on. “He kept calling me a fucking brat, I have a name you know?” Hange groaned while looking to the ceiling and turning around to clean her workspace even more. Erwin just continued to chuckle, deciding not to respond to Eren, who continued to sit there like he was about to lose his damn mind around a bunch of circus freaks.

Where the hell were Jean and Armin?


	7. In which, Jean goes missing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Musical inspiration: Personal Jesus by Marilyn Manson.
> 
> Enjoy.

After the Levi debacle, Eren felt like he was ready to go home. But first, he had to find Armin and Jean. He had absolutely no idea where they could have gone. Eren looked over to Hange who was busy wiping down liquor bottles and removing near-empty ones with full ones. She seemed to be in her own world.

“Hey, Hange?”

 She looked over to him from her spot on the small two-step ladder. “What’s up?”

“Have you seen a short guy with a blonde bowl cut walking around? Has blue eyes?”

Hange paused, putting her hand on her hip as she thought about it. She shook her head. “Are you looking for the people you came with? They gotta be around here somewhere.” Eren hoped so, and that they didn’t leave him here. Armin wouldn’t do that, Jean, however, probably would.

“Eren!”

Speaking of the blonde…

Eren got up quickly, looking to Armin who had a look of worry on his face. Jean was nowhere to be seen.

“I haven’t been able to find Jean; I don’t know where he is! I hope he’s okay…” Eren bit the corner of his mouth, wheels turning in his head. Jean had left their table earlier in the night, of his own accord. “He didn’t tell you where he was going?” Armin shook his head, “He did, but he was very vague, all he said to me was that he wanted to say hi to someone…”

Oh great, Jean possibly got abducted because he decided to listen to his dick instead of his head.

“He can’t be far and don’t worry. This place is very closely monitored and is safe.” Eren looked over to Erwin who smiled at both of them. He gestured forward to shake Armin’s hand. “I’m Erwin Smith, I apologize for not introducing myself earlier.” Armin shook his head, returning the gesture, “N-no, I’m sorry for just barging in like that. Jean doesn’t usually go off on his own like this.” Armin smiled at Erwin before looking to Eren. “We should probably go find Jean. It’s getting late too.” Eren nodded, bidding farewell to Hange and Erwin, thanking them for their company.

Hange watched as Eren and Armin walked off, sighing as she rested her chin on her hand. She looked over to Erwin, her chin still resting on her hand. “You know, he’s letting probably the most interesting thing walk away in years.” Erwin nodded, agreeing with his companion. He, however, has known Levi for a lot longer than Hange has, and he was almost certain that Levi had ulterior motives than just letting Eren walk off like that.

* * *

“You sure you have no idea where he is?”

They exited the club room, the music slowly becoming muted as they walked into the foyer. Armin put his hands on his hips as he turned to face Eren. “He told me he was going to say hi to someone, I assumed it was someone he recognized so I didn’t think into it. But now I have no idea where he is.” Eren tsk’d trying to think of who to ask on where Jean could have potentially gone. He doubted Levi would know…

He looked over to the receptionist's desk and saw that someone was there. He rushed over, placing his palms on the desk, startling the receptionist. The receptionist looked to Eren with a light glare.

“Can I help you?” The man questioned in light irritation.

“I’m looking for a grey-haired man, about the same length of hair as me. He came in with me and my friend Armin earlier tonight. You remember us, correct?”

The receptionist looked between Armin and Eren, nodding slowly before nodding in recognition.

“Ah, yes I know where your friend is. He’s upstairs I believe.”

Eren and Armin looked to the receptionist quizzically. “Upstairs?” They both responded in unison. “What could Jean possibly be doing upstairs? Isn’t that off-limits to the public?”

“I could be wrong, but I think I saw him heading upstairs with Marco.”

Eren’s mouth dropped open as he took a deep breath through his nose and turned to face Armin. “Okay, so Jean is somewhere upstairs which means we’re most definitely going to walk in on them doing indecent activities. All in favour of ruining it?” Eren raised his own hand with a smirk on his face, and Armin just shook his head turning towards the stairs. Eren followed him quickly, a few steps behind him. This Marco guy was a bit of a whore it seemed. At least Eren thought so anyway, arching a brow at his own thoughts.  _Okay, maybe not a whore but he definitely enjoyed sex._

They just were about to go up the steps until they were stopped again.

“Oi, what do you think you’re doing?”

Armin and Eren looked behind them to see Levi standing there, eyes narrowed at them. Eren bounded down the two steps he took before Levi stopped them, stopping right in front of Levi. The height difference didn’t seem to bother Levi, as he stood still in the position, he arrived in. He looked up to Eren with his arms crossed, arching a brow.

“Look, our friend has gone missing and apparently he’s upstairs with someone called Marco.”

Levi arched a brow, now interested in what Eren was telling him. No wonder Hange or himself couldn’t locate Marco anywhere. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. He began walking towards the staircase, Eren moving aside for him to walk up the stairs. Armin watched as he made his way upstairs, the two of them following the owner closely.

“I understand your concern but upstairs is off-limits unless you work or live here. Don’t do it again or else you won’t be welcome here any longer.” Levi looked over his shoulder to the two men, mainly to Eren who didn’t acknowledge his cold stare. They made it to the top of the stairs. The second floor was a long hall with several doors. At the end of the hall was another small staircase that led to another floor. Levi began walking in the opposite direction to the room at the end of the hall. The door was not completely closed, a small crack open. Clearly, if they wanted privacy, they could have properly shut the door and locked it.

The noises coming from the room, however, told a different story.

Levi opened the door slowly, the three of them standing in the doorway awkwardly. As soon as Eren made it to the door he instantly turned around, cursing. “Jesus Christ!” Armin scratched the back of his neck, embarrassment evident all over his face.

The two in the room had looked at the door like deer caught in the headlights, Jean almost falling off the side of the bed as he lost his balance on his one knee. He started hopping as he tried to lift his boxers. Levi watched the duo in slight amusement as he looked to Marco.

“Hange is looking for you, I don’t even get to fuck while I’m working.”

Eren was leaning against the railing, looking down at the large foyer. It looked totally different from this vantage point. The long railing that scaled the top floor of the estate overlooked a large chandelier that lit the large foyer. The ceiling was rather high, as he took in how high the elaborate chandelier actually was. He watched as a few people came in, signing in and greeting the receptionist before walking into the club. He also watched in morbid fascination as a woman in a latex bodysuit walked out of the club room with a man in tow who was on his knees, wearing a collar. The woman in latex was holding a leash that was attached to the collar.

Jean finally came out of the room, decently as he looked to Armin and then to Eren who turned around finally. “What in the fuck is wrong with you guys huh?” He asked, clearly annoyed.

Eren rolled his eyes as he made his way to the stairs, not bothering to say anything to Levi or thanking him for escorting them to find Jean. “Next time you feel the need to shove your dick in someone, at least let us know. Armin was shitting himself looking for you.”

Jean was about to say something but stopped, understanding what Eren was trying to tell him. The 3 men made it to the main floor before Armin turned to Eren. He nodded in Levi’s direction who was standing at the top of the staircase, simply watching the three of them. He looked over to Marco who was now dressed and made his way down the stairs. It was silent as he walked over to Jean who gave him a private smile and shoved something in Jean’s hand. He looked down at what was in his hand and then to Marco and his retreating figure. Armin looked from Jean who was now looking at a small slip of paper with a content look on his face, and back to Eren.

“Eren, thank him for finding Jean.” Armin nodded in Levi’s direction giving Eren a small smile. Eren looked at him like he lost his mind, and just rolled his eyes and looked up to Levi. He now had his arms crossed over his chest in his signature neutral pose. Once again, Eren felt like was being rooted to the spot, the piercing gaze Levi was giving him an odd feeling in his body. The music coming from the other room gave him a strange calm like nobody else was there and all he could do was just keep staring into Levi’s gaze.

 _Feeling unknown,_ _and you're all alone... Flesh and bone, by the telephone… Lift up the receiver, I'll make you a believer…_

Eren cleared his throat, shaking his head ever so slightly, bringing him from his almost dazed-state.

“Thanks for finding Jean for us, I sure as hell wouldn’t have been able to find him.” Eren thumb pointed to Jean who was scowling at him. Levi didn’t say anything to him at first, just observing. Levi knew he was making Eren uncomfortable with his gaze, but that was the point. He watched as Eren shifted on his feet after thanking him, not knowing what else to say. Deciding he ravelled enough in his discomfort, he spoke.

“It’s not an issue, brat. Just don’t go adventuring into areas that are off-limits, even though you were told that much.”

Eren snorted and crossed his arms and turned around, making his way towards the exit, Armin and Jean in tow. He waved his hand over his shoulder as he nodded to the receptionist, leaving the establishment into the night, not looking back.

* * *

Levi watched as the large wooden door slowly closed, the trio of men no longer inside his domain. He sighed as he ran a hand through his undercut, walking down the stairs. He looked at his watch and saw that it was almost 1:00am. Another 2 hours and he would close up for the night. There weren’t many people left inside the main area, and Levi felt like he could pull away for a few moments to catch a breath. He walked through the hall under the staircase and walked down a few steps that led to a sliding door. There was a small bistro table with two chairs and an ashtray. Turning on the small backlight, he stepped outside. The back of the estate faced a largely wooded area, the downtown core lights visible beyond the trees. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lighting one as he slowly sat down in a chair, feeling like he hadn’t sat down at all tonight. He rested his elbow on the small table while scratching his forehead, looking quickly to make sure his cigarette was not burning his hair.

He really hadn’t planned on seeing Eren again tonight, that was something he didn’t expect. The kid had such an attitude though it almost baffled him. He would relish moulding him, training him, and breaking him. But, before any of that, there was the obstacle of warming him up to the idea of him coming here more often or talking to him more in general for starters.

It would be a process, but all the best things come with time. There was something about Eren that challenged all of Levi’s principles and morals, the very fabric of his being. It was interesting. He hadn’t felt like this about someone in ages, if ever, really. He engaged in scenes here at the club with the unbounded submissives, but beyond that, he really didn’t engage in much else. He had a business to run and didn’t have the time he once did. There also hasn’t been anyone that captured his interest as much as Eren has in the last week. He knew something was different about him the moment he saw him walk into this house for the first time ever.

Levi stuck the cigarette butt in the ashtray before getting up and stretching. Time to call it a night.


	8. In which, Eren grows a set

Eren waved as he watched Armin’s car drive off into the night. Eren’s house was the closest to Armin’s and Jean had decided to just crash at Armin’s house for the night. Eren left his keys with Armin who said he’ll drive his car home in the morning. He was off tomorrow so he didn’t need to worry about going anywhere right in the morning. Armin knew that Eren had a weird insomnia thing, and it was even worse if he slept somewhere other than his own bed. It was the only real reason why Eren refused Armin’s offer for him to also crash at his house instead of bringing him home.

Turning the key into the lock, he stepped inside his small apartment, bending over to untie his converse and plopping them near his door. He shut the door and locked it, sighing heavily before turning on the hall light.

_Meow!_

Surely, a plump orange cat came into view, eyes droopy from sleep. His fat jiggled as he trotted across the floor, approaching Eren to rub himself on his legs. Eren went down to his knee and began petting the feline, it instantly started to purr really loudly.

“I’m back Beans.”

The cat let out a ‘murph!’ noise and moved away as Eren padded into the apartment, turning on the kitchen light and walking to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. He turned to see Beans sitting there, staring at him. He took a sip of water before looking back to the cat.

“Yes?”

Beans simply blinked while staring at his owner. Eren couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. Jean and Eren used to share this apartment until he got his own place and overtime Eren noticed his poor cat getting fatter and fatter. Turns out Jean kept giving him treats when he’d meow at him. He exhaled through his nose while turning to look at the clock. He groaned. It was almost 3:00am. Shaking his head, he shut off the kitchen light and hall light, before walking into his room that was across from the kitchen. He had a rather simple apartment with living necessities, a kitchen, living room and bedroom. He didn’t need much else. Beans followed Eren into his room and hopped onto the bed. Eren stretched, cracking his back as he removed his socks and jeans, leaving him in a shirt and boxers. He scratched his chest under his shirt, wetting his dry mouth while yawning. His eyes fell to the sheet of paper on his nightstand, the same paper that had Levi’s number on it.

He plopped into bed, over the sheets as he grabbed his phone that was discarded near Beans, who only watched as Eren grabbed the sheet of paper and stared at it.

He looked at his phone then back to the sheet of paper, lying there in silent thought. Eh, what could really go wrong? It’s not like he knew his number anyway. Levi could have just regarded him as a creepy fangirl,  _or fanboy_ and ignore the message completely. He sat at the end of the bed, inputting Levi’s number into his phone before sending something. He sat there staring at his phone, his thumb shaking over the send button. What if he didn't want anything to do with him after what happened tonight? Eren licked his lip as he sighed to himself. Oh well, what's the worst that could happen? Say nothing? 

**Eren: Um. Hi.**

It took a few minutes of Eren sitting there, bugging Beans before his phone buzzed.

_090-2254-0040: Who is this?_

Eren arched a brow at his phone. He really couldn’t guess who it was? How many people did he give his number away to? Eren couldn’t help but feel like just a thing to pass time by. He grunted in displeasure before responding.

_**Eren: Your friendly neighbourhood nurse, how many people have you given your number to?** _

Eren felt his eyes becoming progressively droopy. He felt his phone buzz and he picked it up.

_090-2254-0040: Eren?_

Eren rolled his eyes, before huffing, trying to smother the smile he was giving himself as he looked to his phone. He truly was starting to act like a virgin.

_**Eren: Yes. I’m starting to wonder if you give your number away for kicks. This isn't even your actual number, is it? Have separate phones?**_

Eren rolled over to move the sheet and got into bed. He sat there and looked to his lamp, the dim yellow light making a small tint in the square room. He looked down at his phone in his lap, wondering if he should answer it now or wait until the morning. Temptation got the better of him, and he picked up his phone and unlocked the lock screen to read the full message. He decided to actually add his number into his phone instead of constantly just seeing his actual number there.

_Levi: Only to brats. I’m in the middle of helping close up shop. I’ll text you._

Eren read the message over twice, feeling his eye twitch that even in a text he still called him a brat. This was his cue to go to sleep. He texted him, he knew that it was him texting him, now he could lie down and sleep. He plugged in his phone and placed it on his nightstand before cuddling into his many pillows. He heard Beans purring nearby, and shifted his head, feeling Beans walking onto his second pillow. He heard the loud purring of the fat orange feline before he let sleep claim him.

* * *

“HE TEXTED YOU?!”

Levi actually felt a gust of wind blow on his face as Hange screamed in his face over the kitchen counter. They had closed the club for the night and most of everyone went to sleep. Except for the resident insomniacs, Hange and Levi. He shoved Hange’s face back, sticking his hand over her face and pushing her back. He furrowed his brows at her, clear disdain on his face.

“Shut up four eyes, you’re so fucking loud. I did give him my number, so it’s not completely out of the blue.”

Hange was still looking at Levi bug-eyed, clearly excited and happy for Levi. He scratched his forehead while looking down at his phone and the time. He had texted Eren back as soon as he was finished closing for the night and hadn’t received a response. He probably went to bed, which he didn’t blame him for. It was approaching daybreak, and he was still awake. A common occurrence. Hange was making themselves tea, herbal tea to help them sleep, and Levi couldn’t help but wonder actually why Eren decided to text him. Not that he was complaining in particular anyway. He felt as though Eren was having an internal battle with himself. He felt the attraction towards him, and Levi couldn’t deny that he felt an attraction towards the brat either. However, Eren was not all about the lifestyle Levi lived. It was either that, or he just didn’t know what he would even like to even consider it.

Hange handed Levi a cup of tea and he thanked her for it. He took a small sip before getting back in his own head again. It was usually the case with inexperienced people interested in BDSM. It took a little trial and error with someone they obviously trusted enough to do things like this with. Levi arched a brow at his own internal musings as Hange simply watched his facial expressions change with amusement. Obviously, Eren didn’t trust him, which made complete sense since they just met. Not on the best of terms either. So, he’d have to take a different approach to the situation in order to gain some form of trust.

He seemed to be comfortable with Hange and Erwin, that much he could tell. Which was a start? He assumed?

“Levi?”

Levi looked to Hange who was now standing beside Micke, who looked sleepy-eyed and was holding a glass of water in his hand.

“I’m heading upstairs for the night. Have a good night Levi! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

Levi snorted with the cup at his lips, waving off Hange and Micke as they walked out of the kitchen. He was alone now. He didn’t mind that, this how his nights usually went. Hange would usually keep him company in the kitchen until one of them got tired and decided to retire for the night. Levi noticed Hange and Micke together more lately, and his curiosity couldn’t help but be piqued. However, it was none of his business. As long as rules were followed, he couldn’t care less about who fucked who, or who’s with who. 

Hange though? Levi laughed to himself. That woman was too crazy for anyone to take her seriously. 

Levi heard footsteps coming from behind him and looked over his shoulder, tense shoulders relaxing.

“Ah, Marco. I’m surprised you’re not sleeping.”

Marco padded into the kitchen, going to grab a glass and filling it with water from the fridge filter. He sat on a chair on the opposite end of the kitchen island.

“I was on the phone with someone. Now I can’t sleep.”

Levi looked over to the young submissive who had a tint of red on his freckled cheeks. Levi couldn’t help but think how adorable Marco looked like that.

“Eren’s friend? Jean was it?”

His blush intensified at the name. He opened his mouth to speak but decided to just take a large chug of water from his glass instead. Levi let out a silent chuckle as he emptied his cup of tea. He placed it lightly on the counter, not wanting to chip or ruin the Chinaware. It didn't take a village idiot to figure out that one, considering that they were hooking up earlier in the night. Even if that wasn't the case, Levi had unusually good observational skills. He probably would have figured it out regardless.

“Did you explain to Hange what happened?”

Marco shook his head quickly, still embarrassed by the situation.

“Did she even ask?”

He shook his head again. Levi sighed and rolled his eyes. Figures.

“W-what about you, Sir?” Levi looked over to Marco, giving him a questioning look. He shifted on his seat before focusing on the submissive, giving the man his full attention.

“What about me, Marco?”

“Jean's friend. The one with the green eyes. He seems to be interested in getting to know you."

Levi closed his eyes briefly, before giving Marco a softer expression. “I know.”

Marco nodded, “I think he likes you a lot actually. I just think the initial encounter threw him for a loop.” A light blush returned to his cheeks again at the memory. Levi continued to look at Marco in amusement. His face morphed back into his neutral, cool expression as he studied Marco. “I hope you understand that speaking rudely to clients isn’t a good way to get my attention, Marco.”

Marco sighed, pursing his lips. “He kept following me and asking me questions, it was making me uncomfortable.”

“Then you should have told Reiner, Bertolt or even me.”

“Yes, yes I know. I’m sorry Sir. It won’t happen again.”

Levi nodded as he got up off his seat to clean the empty teacup. He took Marco’s empty glass too, which Marco thanked him for. Once he shut off the tap and wiped down the counter, he made his way towards the kitchen door, now ready to go to bed. He looked to Marco who was now beginning to get up, tucking in the barstool under the island.

“Marco?”

Said man looked to Levi, “Yes Sir?”

Levi gave him a small smile before speaking. “I hope it works out with Jean. You’ve been alone here for a long time now; I think one of the longest. I appreciate your loyalty but also think about yourself. You have needs as well.”

Marco returned the smile, nodding. “I can say the same to you, Sir. One night of thinking about yourself, the club won’t fall apart.” Levi let out a bark of laughter before turning around, waving over his shoulder. “With people like Hange working here?” His voice faded into a short echo as he walked down the hall, towards the staircase. Marco smiled, as he shut off the kitchen light for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup. Eren has a fat orange cat named Beans. :)


	9. Cafe on Main Street

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! It’s been a minute, I apologize. Life does happen, however. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Levi let out a long exhale as he walked into his room, the wooden door making a quiet click as he closed it. It was well into the night and he should be asleep already. He pulled out his phone out of his back pocket and tossed it aimlessly on the bed while starting to change into sleeping attire. He lifted his black shirt over his head and tossed it haphazardly onto his desk chair.

After changing he walked over to the bed and sat down at the end of it while grabbing his formerly discarded phone. He didn’t see a reply from Eren; however, he did see that he read his text message. He was probably long asleep now too considering that there was no reply. Considering his options, Levi shut off his screen, pausing halfway as he was about to place his phone on his nightstand. He brought the phone back closer to him and opened his and Eren’s conversation.

_Levi: Goodnight brat._

Content with what was written, he finally put his phone down and shut off the light, letting sleep claim him for the night.

* * *

In the morning, at least that’s what Levi thought it was, he heard a knocking on the door.

“Levi! Wake up, it’s Hange! You said you’d come downtown with me today!”

Levi groaned and rolled over to look at the clock. 10:30 am.

“Leviiii!”

“I’m waking up! Leave me the fuck alone I’ll be downstairs soon.” Levi tossed the sheets aside before sitting up and running his hands through his hair. He looked to his phone and saw that he had unread messages. He inhaled deeply through his nose. _So, none of that was a dream?_ He picked up his phone and unlocked it, adjusting himself on his bed to sit cross-legged.

**Eren: If you’re not totally booked up today I do have work, but I try to take my lunch around 2 pm. It depends on how hectic it is at the hospital. What say you for a coffee?**

Levi scratched the side of his head, almost smiling lazily at his phone. Okay, he did promise Hange to go shopping for some new club décor first. Perhaps the 3 of them could get together, make it less awkward for the first time. Levi paused as he got up and removed his shirt to put on proper clothes. Eren didn’t think that they were dating, did they? Levi was about as straight as a curve, and he didn’t think Hange had an attraction to anything period. He almost never saw Hange with a partner or even trying to get with someone. He shrugged to himself as he threw on some jeans and made his way downstairs.

Levi padded into the kitchen and saw Hange sitting there. Everyone else was still asleep it seemed.

“I was afraid you’d sleep in. We need to get some new stuff in.” Hange moved around the kitchen as she cleaned her mug and placed it in the dish rack. Levi sat on a bar stool as Hange passed him a cup of tea.

“You said something about new bar stools?” Hange nodded while jumping to sit on the corner of the counter. “Barstools and dishwasher. My little put put can’t keep up anymore.”

“Alright. I wanted to go into Tricks and Sticks to see if we can get new equipment for one of the scene rooms.” Hange’s eyebrows went up and crossed her arms over her chest in question. “Which room?”

“Hospital room.”

“Ah, of course. That is our most popular one.”

Levi nodded as he downed the rest of his tea and got up to wash it. He debated on telling Hange that Eren had asked to meet up, but he decided he’ll do that later on.

* * *

Hange drove into the city and they pulled over near a furniture shop called Northbound Leather. This is where they usually went to get customizations for the club. They walked inside, the distinct chiming of the door ringing throughout the door as they walked inside.

Hange pulled out a notepad as they began walking around the store. She pointed out the barstools she was interested in as they kept looking around.

“Levi! Hange! Good to see you again!”

Both bodies turned and saw a middle-aged lady with brown hair approach them with a bright smile on her face. She wore a black shirt and a long black skirt that touched the floor.

“Rita, it’s good to see you again.” Hange met her halfway and gave her a big hug. Levi nodded in greeting to her as she waved to him happily.

“I assume you’re here to get shop supplies?”

The three of them made their way around the store as Rita showed them a few new pieces that they got in, and Hange pointing out the barstools that she was keenly interested in. Levi had explained to him that they were in need of a new hospital-style bed for the scene room and that this was all to be put under a tab to the club.

“You guys are always such generous cliental. I know you guys have a business to run but I always appreciate that you come to me before anybody else.” They made their way up a narrow staircase to her office to do paperwork. They made it to the top of the stairs when they heard a meow. Two black cats sat on a cat tree that was facing the window in the atrium at the top of the stairs.

“You always have such fine quality. We’d like our things to last, given what we do.” Levi clarified to her as Hange was completely distracted by the twin cats who were clearly happy to see her as well.

“Hange, leave the cats alone. We have stuff to do.”

Hange bid farewell to the purring cats and followed Levi and Rita into her office.

* * *

By the time they finished with the ordering of new furniture, it was almost 12:00pm. They decided to stop for food before going to Tricks and Sticks. Hange just got to the table with a coffee in her hand as Levi pulled out his phone and placed it on the table.

“So, Eren texted me this morning.”

Hange almost spilt coffee all over herself and wiped her lip.

“Again? That’s fast, even for you.”

Levi shrugged while letting out a humourless chuckle, “I didn’t do anything he texted me this morning asking to go for coffee on his break.”

“Aw…He’s into you Levi!”

“Yeah but you saw, he has no idea what kind of life I live, and I don’t think he really wants in on it either. I don’t want to let his hopes up or my own.” Levi took a sip of his tea while looking out the window. People passing by, attending to their own daily schedules.

“So, what are you going to do then?” Hange took a bite out of her sandwich while waiting for Levi to respond.

“I don’t…know, for once. I think I will join him this afternoon though. You’re more than welcome to join us, make it a little less tense I guess.” Hange wiped her hands of the crumbs from her sandwich as she placed it down on the plate.

“I have to rearrange the bar anyway and a few other things I planned to do before tonight. I’ll leave you to it. I feel like I’m intruding regardless on you lovebirds!”

Levi’s eyebrow twitched. She just had to throw in the unnecessary commentary… _Always._

* * *

“Is there anything, in particular, you wanted here?” Hange questioned as she held the door for Levi as they walked into the sex shoppe. This store was literally equipped with anything you could think of or wanted. Which is why Levi preferred it over anything else.

“I was looking for new wide paddles. Erwin told me the cherry wood one was getting worn out. I don’t want to hear someone complaining of potential splinters in their ass.”

“Ouch, point taken.” Hange made a grimace as they walked further into the store. Levi’s eyes fell upon a wireless bullet that came with a pocket remote.

_Tempting…_

“Aww, hey Levi look at this!” Hange pointed to a little silver plug with a super fluffy pink rabbit tail at the end. Levi arched a brow at her. “And that’s something you’d wear?” Hange let out a laugh while shouting “Never!” Levi just shook his head as his eyes fell on the various paddles. How badly he itched to use one of these with Eren when he decided to mouth off to him the way he did last night.

_To see that ass bright red while he let out moans…_

Whoa.

Levi cleared his throat and scratched his head confusingly. Okay, not alright. He was already getting way too ahead of himself here. That was not okay for him.

“Hange.”

Hange was busy checking out the leather chaps as she looked over at him.

“What is it?”

“We can go, I’ll deal with this another time.”

“Aww, don’t want to be late for your date do you?” Hange poked his shoulder while Levi ground his teeth together and marched out of the store.

Levi walked Hange to her car, deciding that the hospital and Café on Main was not far off and that he could walk. Hange said that she didn’t have an issue driving him and questioned how he’d get home after. Levi said not to worry about it and if he needed a ride he’d call or just take an Uber back.

Hange waved bye as she pulled out of the parking spot and drove off, leaving Levi on the sidewalk. He took in a deep breath and pulled out his phone out of his pocket and opened the text message from Eren.

_Levi: I’m in the city. Are you still available for 2:00?_


	10. A Question of clarity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She a long one bois. I hope you enjoy!

Eren was shitting bricks, to put it mildly.

He was filing away some old charts with Armin when he felt his phone buzzing in his scrub pocket. He discreetly pulled it out and read the message and almost let out a girlish screech while almost dropping his phone on the floor. Both Armin and Sasha looked at Eren like he had gone mad. Smiling sheepishly, he scratched the hair under his bun before giving Armin a nervous smile. He arched a brow at him, and he moved closer to Armin so only he could hear what he was telling him.

“Levi texted me back, I honestly didn’t think he would.”

Armin’s mouth opened in the shape of an ‘o’ and he pointed to his phone that was in his hand. “He’s going to meet up with you for lunch?” Eren nodded as he swallowed. Suddenly his mouth felt very dry and gross, as he kept swallowing trying to retain some moisture in his mouth. He was severely put on the spot because he actually wasn’t expecting this to work out _at all._ Now he had to carry on for the next 2 hours of his shift before he had his lunch, becoming a nervous wreck in the process.

Eren began compulsively biting his pen as he read over a patient’s chart and the doctor’s orders as he made his way towards the patient’s room. Was he actually going to go through with this? He was still wearing his scrubs for heaven’s sake!

_Okay. I can’t be breaking my back over this right now. I’m at work, I need to focus._

Greg was in better spirits today, communicating well and was eating. Erwin would be happy to know that his father could be discharged by tomorrow at the latest. He took his vitals and gave him his last round of medications before letting him rest again. At his request, he asked Eren to close the curtains because the sun was shining directly in his face.

Eren sighed as he walked out of the room and wrote a few more notes in the chart before placing it in the filing shelf for the doctor to see. Armin was busy with a few students who were doing their clinical under him, so he barely had any time to be standing around. Eren was initially given the offer to have the students work under him since he had been at the hospital longer, but he decided to give the chance to Armin. Armin was a better teacher anyway.

Eren heard the sounds of wheels being pushed rapidly across the floor and knew that paramedics with a stretcher were going to come flying across the hall heading towards the ER. While the ICU ran vertically across the floor, the doors to the ER were just around the corner from the desk for the ICU. It worked out that way so patients that were coming from the ER could be brought to the ICU if needed.

Eren watched as paramedics pulled an elderly man on a stretcher with an oxygen mask over his face. The situation seemed dire. Eren took in a deep breath and closed his eyes while turning to Sasha behind the desk, asking for his water bottle that was kept underneath the desk.

Sometimes Eren wondered why he decided to become a nurse. He always wanted to help people, ever since he was young. He also always had a fascination with medicine. Becoming a doctor would have been too difficult, so he settled for becoming a nurse instead.

Seeing the harsh stuff though never gets easy. He was grateful for working here for just over 2 years and only had a single Code Blue called while he was on duty. Code Blues were always the most difficult especially when the patient doesn’t make it. It had happened to Mikasa once, and she had a rather difficult time with it. You feel responsible, they were your patients. But you can’t expect everything to always go the way you want it.

He took a few large gulps of water before passing the bottle back to Sasha who placed it back in the cubicle under the desk. She noticed that Eren was acting a little edgy but didn’t question it and let him get back to work.

* * *

Eren hurried down the hall as he looked at his watch. He had texted Levi and told him he’d be a bit late. He didn’t bother checking his phone as he rushed to the elevator that led to the ground floor.

As the doors closed, Eren leaned against the wall of the elevator and took a deep breath.

_Breathe, calm down you idiot. Why the hell are you getting so worked up for? He just asked to go out for coffee. Fucking, relax. You're the one who originally invited him out._

Eren bounded out of the elevator and hurried outside. Just as he did, he saw Levi standing underneath a pillar, absently watching everything go by. Eren slowed down and almost came to a halt, swallowing thickly before approaching him.

“H-hi.” He stuttered while cringing. _Good job you fucking looney…_

Levi looked over and raised himself from his leaning position against the pillar.

“Nice to see you. I wasn’t expecting you to invite me out like this.”

Eren laughed awkwardly while rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, it was kind of random I know…I mean I’m still in my scrubs, it’s not really a big deal or anything…” _Stop ranting and shut up!_ Eren felt like every word that was coming out of his mouth was making him feel more and more stupid. He never usually is like this; he couldn’t help it. Something about Levi just reduces him to a bumbling idiot.

“It’s fine, Eren. I appreciate it. How long is your lunch?”

“An hour. We can go to the café right over there that I saw you and Erwin at. I need a coffee anyway.”

Levi nodded and gestured for Eren to walk with him.

“How has your day been Eren?” Levi asked as he put his hands in his pockets. They reached the streetlight, Eren pressing the walk signal for the lights to change. His cheeks puffed as he sighed.

“Busy, like usual. But Erwin’s father should be discharged either tonight or tomorrow morning. Just need to get doctor’s confirmation.”

“I’m sure he’ll be glad to hear that, I’ll let him know.”

Eren was confused for a moment but then recalled that Erwin lived at the same residence that Levi lived in. Which was also a club. For BDSM. Casual.

They walked across the street and to the café, Levi holding the door for Eren as they walked inside. It was empty for the most part, save for a few people sitting around on their computers. They decided to get a seat near the window before going to order.

“What about you?”

Levi looked to him skeptically, “What about me Eren?”

“How was your day?”

Levi ordered a tea and a coffee for Eren as he wanted, and insisted on paying it as well at Eren’s reluctance. After he finally gave in, they took their beverages and sat down.

“I had a productive day as well I suppose you could say. Me and Hange did a few errands in regards to housekeeping for the club. She wanted new furniture for the bar. I was also interested in getting a few new things for one of the scene rooms.”

“Scene rooms?”

“Yes, Eren. Rooms where people can act out fantasies without judgement.” Levi watched Eren’s face for any signs of change and saw his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. The wheels in his head were clearly turning because his cheeks became a rosy pink and he tried to hide it by bringing his cup to his face.

“Can I ask you a question, Eren?”

“O-of course, go ahead.” Eren murmured behind his cup as he drank his coffee slowly, or at least pretended to.

“Has BDSM ever crossed your mind? What comes to your mind when you hear that term?”

“Uh…I’ve heard about it here and there from people. I guess leather…and…whips?”

Levi let out a laugh before chuckling to himself and taking a sip of his coffee. Eren glared at him from behind his cup, his cheeks turning even more red in embarrassment.

“That’s a common misconception people make.” Levi placed the cup down slowly and rested his elbows on the table, his chin resting on his hands as he observed Eren.

“In my world, trust is valued as something priceless. Any relationship is built on the grounds of trust, but for us, it is so much more.” Levi looked out the window and watched as people walked by, saw a couple laughing and walking hand in hand. “You see couples walking hand in hand, laughing with one another. They trust one another. They’re happy.”

Eren placed his cup on the table, his hands clenching the cup because he had no idea what he’d do with them otherwise as he listened to Levi talk.

“In my world, we see submissives as priceless pieces of art. Individuals who give up everything to their owner, their master. They let them make their choices for them, they trust them with everything entirely.” Levi’s eyes went back to Eren’s. “That’s, what BDSM is. It’s not cheap leather and bound hands, however, it is a nice touch.”

Levi ran his finger along the rim of his cup as he looked at it before looking back up at Eren who was silent still. He was processing all of this information and clearly didn’t know what to do with it.

“I didn’t accept your offer to come here to lecture you I apologize. Sometimes I…Get lost in my own head.”

Eren shook his head quickly, “No, don’t apologize. It’s information I had no idea about until now. But…” Eren trailed off, wanting to say something but it didn’t come out. How did he want to say this? Why did he want to say it? Nothing was making sense right now.

“Eren, relax. I can tell just by the facial expression you’re working yourself up. Just breathe. It’s alright.” Levi was now staring directly into Eren’s eyes, coaxing him to relax. Eren found himself unable to look away, drawn in by the powerful connection his eyes were giving off. Eren swallowed again before tearing his eyes away and looking outside. His eyes darted around, trying to think of something to say.

“You should probably be heading back soon, yes?” Levi looked to his watch and saw that it was quarter to 3. Eren looked back to him, his eyes wide, almost disappointed. Levi took hefty swigs of the lukewarm tea and placed the empty cup back on the table.

“Shall I walk you back to the hospital?”

Eren nodded as Levi got up and walked to the counter and asked for a to-go cup. He walked over and took Eren’s mug and very sophisticatedly poured the remainder of his coffee into the cup and placed the lid over it. Eren just sat there almost dumbfounded as Levi took both cups and returned them to the counter before making his way back over. Eren went to stand, not realizing that he did it really quickly and it led to a super loud screeching noise against the tiled floor.

_God end me now, please…_

* * *

Eren walked in through the door to his apartment, placing his work bag in the closet in the corridor before shutting his apartment door.

What a fucking day.

Between meeting Levi for lunch and the hecticness at the hospital, Eren wanted nothing more than to just go right to sleep. But he had to eat first and feed Beans. So Eren went to work by quickly filling up the cat’s food and water and making himself a quick bite to eat. He stood in the kitchen with a sandwich in his hand and his other hand resting against the counter of his kitchen as he stared at the ground in thought.

There really wasn’t much he knew about BDSM to start. What was he doing?

Eren shoved the crust of his sandwich in his mouth before shutting off the light and trotting to his room. Beans was standing at the door, pawing to get in while meowing. Eren opened the door and Beans and all of his jiggly might waddled to the bed and jumped up before flopping over at the end of his bed.

Eren changed out of his scrubs and into comfortable clothes before going to lie down. He didn’t get into the sheets, just laid there and stared at his ceiling. He turned his head on the pillow to look at his phone before picking it up.

He opened up Google and began searching ‘BDSM.’

All sorts of things popped up and he started with the obvious, Wikipedia. He began reading through specific sections of BDSM and what they meant. There were several images of pieces that were described like the St. Andrew’s Cross. Eren looked at the image in shock. People were actually strapped to that.

He continued scrolling and decided that Wikipedia was too technical for this and went back to Google. He saw a few links to several fanfictions written by authors and their original characters and decided to pick up on a short one and see what it was all about. It started pretty tame as any decent story would, the two characters meeting in some specific setting.

It then turned into them kissing and doing other various things that began to rise a reaction out of Eren. He kept scrolling as he read, reading on as the characters got into what they described as ‘sensory deprivation,’ which was pretty self-explanatory even for Eren. He found it interesting and agreed that if your eyes are covered, all your other bodily senses are heightened. He wondered how much it would affect him. Eren shifted on his bed, feeling the tightness in his boxers as he read on. Why was he doing this again?

Eren was about to get into some serious business when his phone panged, indicating that he received a text message. Almost wanting to ignore it, he got the nagging feeling that he should open it.

_Levi: I had a good time today. I hope I wasn’t off-putting. Thank you for inviting me out during your busy schedule._

Eren closed his eyes and focused on breathing. Breathe…

Why of all times did he have to message him? He couldn’t have waited until the morning. It had to be at this exact, very moment when he was literally about to rub one out on the comfort of his own bed.

**Eren: I did too. You weren’t at all, although I did continue to inform myself after I got home from work tonight.**

Eren decided, if there was one way this was going to end tonight, it would be with the relief of this now painful boner he was sporting.

_Levi: Oh? How so? Porn doesn’t count by the way._

Eren snorted as he shuffled himself up his bed to rest his back against his pillows and headboard.

**Eren: Just some original written work. I’m currently reading about…sensory deprivation.**

_Levi: A favourite._

Eren arched a brow at the reply. He absently licked his lips while bringing his legs up to his chest to stop them from shaking. His phone panged again.

_Levi: So, tell me Eren. What is it that you learned about sensory deprivation?_

**Eren: That…Upon being blindfolded all your other senses are heightened. Basic human physiology.**

Eren was desperately trying to downplay the sexual turn this conversation was rapidly going down.

_Levi: And does that interest you?_

Eren just wanted to strip himself entirely of his clothing and finish what he started, because he knew that Levi knew what he was doing and was doing it on purpose.

**Eren:…Very much.**

_Levi: Are you touching yourself, Eren?_

Eren’s mouth dropped at the question. It was almost scary how this man knew how the world worked around him and what people are thinking. He had only sat down with him for an hour and he felt like his brain was being picked at by him.

**Eren: Maybe. What’s it to you? You can’t tell me what to do.**

Eren decided to add a little snide comment in there to see what his reply would be. He was feeling a little rebellious with this turn of events. He almost giggled to himself as he waited for a reply. Shouldn’t he be running a club? Why the hell was he texting him? It was utterly ridiculous but at the same time, Eren felt happy that out of all the things he could be doing right now it was texting him.

_Levi: You’re just rubbing it in now aren’t you?_

Catching on to that double entendre, Eren tossed his phone on the bed and got up to take off his boxers. He was so hard it was almost painful. He let out a hiss of breath at the first few strokes, biting his lip as he let his imagination run a little wild.

Eren almost jumped out of his skin when he heard his phone rang. He quickly sat up and got on his knees and looked at his phone as he held it between his legs.

He was calling him.

Levi was fucking calling him. 

Eren was too busy staring at his phone like an idiot only for it to hang up. Eren stared at his phone in protest, about to call back but Levi texted him back. 

_Levi: I didn't mean to call you, I apologize._

What a crock of shit.

Eren was so close to tossing his phone at the wall because he could just feel it in his bones that Levi did that on purpose. He sat in the middle of his bed in a huff with his arms crossed. He was officially flaccid. Beans was sitting at the end of his bed in a loaf position, staring at him like he was secretly judging him hard. Eren sighed and patted Beans' head before picking up his phone again.

**Eren: I ate and now I am going to bed. Goodnight, Levi.**

Eren got up and placed his phone on his bedside and plugged it in. He felt it bzz after he shut off the ringer but didn't open his phone. He stuck his tongue out at his phone as if Levi could see what he was doing as he tossed the covers aside and curled under the sheets for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update, yeehaw! I had to throw the previous chapter in there to bridge everything together so it's not dicey. I hope you're all enjoying Eren's journey down the rabbit hole and figuring out his own desires. That's the beauty of BDSM, you find things that you'd never think you'd be interested in. People tend to believe that BDSM is just whips and leather but it's so much more than that and it truly is beautiful. 
> 
> Until next time my lovely readers.


	11. Pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of this chapter is focused on the hardship of Eren’s job as a Registered Nurse in a busy unit. I’m excited to get back into writing now that I have my winter break from college and can breathe. Things get a little whacky Bruce but nothing too intense. I’ll put warnings up prior to a new chapter if such things occur.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Eren knew the moment he woke up this morning that he was going to have a long day. Considering the more positive note the night ended on he was certain that it wouldn’t last long the moment he stepped into work. It was a busy day, but nothing he couldn’t handle. Erwin and his sister had come earlier in the day to get their recently discharged father. Erwin was grateful for Eren’s help and that hospitals like these needed more empathetic people like him. He had talked to Erwin for a few minutes while his sister was filling out discharge papers and speaking to the doctor. He was grateful for the compliment and sent them on their way. Eren didn’t bring up Levi in the conversation because this was about Erwin and his father’s health, which was more important.

It was when 6:00pm rolled around, an hour before his shift was set to end that shit hit the fan. He was walking down the hall from after returning from a bathroom break and he heard a nurse call a patient’s name, she sounded almost panicked. Eren’s speed in his step picked up a little as he came to the patient’s room. It wasn’t his patient, but it was one of the students and she looked like a deer caught in the headlights. It was another RN's day off in the unit and Eren was to shadow 2 of the nursing students that had been placed on the same floor.

“We need to call a Code Blue this patient is going into cardiac arrest!” Eren rushed into the room and turned to the nurse, in full medical professional mode. He tossed the bedsheet aside and removed the patient’s hospital garb and turned to the student who was stunned into a panic. This was her first time experiencing a Code Blue, he understood her shock, he could even recall his own first Code Blue, but she needed to recover and get into motion.

“Hey! This isn’t a time to get in a panic this is the job you want?!” Eren hollered at the student giving the student a hardened look as he checked vitals, “Call a Code Blue and get me another RN in here now!” Eren turned to the patient and lowered the bed so it was flat. The angle he was on wasn’t effective, he let out a frustrated growl while gritting his teeth and hopped on the bed and kneeled on the side of the bed and began doing full compressions. At a point, he felt the chest give way some and there was a crack as he continued doing compressions. Beyond the adrenaline that was buzzing all over, he heard a commotion outside, and a doctor came rushing in with two other nurses. Eren looked over quickly and looked back and saw that the patient was becoming cyanotic as he kept doing compressions. The doctor told Eren to give him room and let the code team take over and instructed him to grab an IV and defibrillator as more medical personnel flooded the room.

Eren quickly moved off and rushed into the unit hall to grab an IV and the defibrillator.  Sasha was standing behind the desk and was making sure the hallway was empty for medical personnel to move freely in and out of the hallway. She watched as Eren rushed back into the patient’s room as they continued to attempt resuscitation on the patient. She swallowed anxiously as she heard the defibrillator going off. Security came down the hall and she pointed to the room the patient was in and instructed other patients and family members of other patients who were nearby to please give the code team space. Sasha sat down and pulled up the patient’s information to inform the family of the situation. This was the most painful part of her job, calling families who want only for their family members to come home only to inform them that they might not be leaving the hospital at all.

It was just under an hour later when the commotion slowly came to a halt. The code lead went out into the hall to speak with Sasha. Off to the side was assumingly the patient’s family. Eren walked out of the room as the doctor walked off with two individuals. Sasha looked from the doctor to Eren who swallowed solemnly. He held a towel in his hands as strands of brown hair were sticking to his forehead, some of his hair falling out of the tight bun he kept it in during work. Eren didn’t say anything to Sasha, he just walked out of the room and down the hall.

Losing a patient was one of the hardest things about working in a hospital. You bear a lot on your shoulders and do everything in your power to make sure that the patient survives, but sometimes it just doesn’t work that way. He walked into a special services bathroom, closing the door and locking it. He walked over to the sink, turning on the water and splashing water on his face. This had only happened twice to him before and both times were tough. Once the student gained her bearings back she worked efficiently and effectively to assist the code team. Eren shut off the water and patted his face with the towel. He bit his lip and looked down at the clinical white sink, watching the water go down the train like a mini-tornado. Walking to the door, he wanted to speak to the doctor and just go home as quickly as possible.

* * *

Eren walked through the parking lot almost absently, not really thinking about anything. He had his work bag slung over his shoulder and had a sweater on over his scrubs. It was a cold and damp evening, it just made him want to curl under his bed and sleep. He approached his car and unlocked it and got into the front seat and tossed his bag in the passenger seat while just watching the droplets of condensation move down his windshield. He sat there for a minute or two just completely zoned out. He was supposed to have been done work by 7 and didn’t get out until now. It was almost 9. 14 hours of work. He was almost convinced he should have just slept in an empty room in the ICU instead of driving home only to come back at 7 tomorrow morning.

He pulled out his phone and unlocked it. He had a text message from Levi, two from Sasha and one from Armin. Armin and Sasha were mostly concerned about what happened today, Armin had said that Sasha texted him. Armin was definitely more level-headed and less emotional when it came to this kind of thing. He remembered having a conversation with Armin after his first Code Blue, he himself almost had given himself a panic attack as well. He sympathized with the student, but you can’t let that sort of thing paralyze you. Especially when lives are at stake.

_“He died! I let him die!”_

_Armin placed his hands on Eren’s shoulders as they stood in the men’s bathroom. Eren was currently on his knees and had his face in his hands as he bawled his eyes out._

_“Eren you did the best you could, we all did. You didn’t let anybody die today.”_

That was almost 2 years ago now.

Eren sighed as he removed his hair from its tie and let out loose. He winced at the tenderness of keeping his hair in such a tight tie for an extended period of time as he went to open the message that Levi had left him.

_Levi: Get held up at work?_

Eren was debating on if he even wanted to talk to Levi about this, let alone mention it. It was the nature of his work. It didn’t mean it made it any easier, however. His fingers hovered over the touch screen and he contemplated his options. He recalled when he was at the café with Levi. He felt himself starting to get anxious and Levi caught it right away.

_“Eren, relax. I can tell just by the facial expression you’re working yourself up. Just breathe. It’s alright.”_

Eren felt like he was being trapped in whirlpools of grey, his eyes piercing into his soul and it felt like he was controlling his body, urging him to calm down. He shut off the screen and tossed his phone in the passenger seat before reversing and leaving the hospital lot.

* * *

Eren pulled up to the white building, take note that it was particularly busy tonight. He parked somewhere near the back that wasn’t utterly swamped with other cars.  He looked at himself. Why the hell was he back here? He was still in his hospital scrubs first of all. For a reason he couldn’t explain, he felt like coming here was the best option for himself right now. He felt like if he went home and laid alone in bed it would have somehow made everything worse. He didn’t want to fall asleep knowing that a patient in his care had died today.

He got out of his car and shucked his car eyes in the pant pocket of his scrubs and walked towards the large building. When he walked inside, Pink Floyd’s The Wall filled his ears as the door shut slowly behind him. He looked to the person sitting at the front desk and asked for ID and his full name. Eren informed the receptionist that he had only a trial membership and he wasn’t sure if it was still valid.

He was even further surprised to find out that his fees had been waived completely.

“Thanks…I guess.”

“Don’t thank me.” The receptionist smiled as Eren gave him an awkward smile before turning around and facing the corridor that led to the main club area. The same two guards were situated outside of the entrance and were watching him. He approached them and smiled awkwardly. The blonde one uncrossed his arms and thumb pointed to the club.

“If you’re looking for the hospital room it’s near the back.”

Eren almost wanted to leave when he said that. He felt so, so, out of place right now. It was awkward and embarrassing put together into one only mix. He nodded slowly before passing between them to walk inside. The massive club room was submerged in black tiled flooring and black walls with elaborate décor. It looked almost different since he was last here. It was even more awkward now because he had nobody with him and was standing there like an idiot in hospital scrubs. Maybe people would actually think he was here to do some weird kinky hospital playdate and would ignore him.

“Hey! Eren!”

Eren heard his name being called and looked around confusingly until his eyes fell on Hange who was approaching him with an empty tray. She was wearing black combat pants and boots and a plain black shirt on top. She gave him one look over and arched a brow at him amusingly.

“I’m going to assume you aren’t here to do a scene?”

Eren pursed his lips and nodded tightly. Hange laughed and slapped his shoulder and gestured for him to follow her while waving the large circular tray. They approached the bar and Hange walked behind it while Eren took a seat, removing his sweater. He exhaled loudly and rested his arms on the end of the bar as Hange moved around, quickly fixing some drinks for people who asked. She came back over while filling up a small glass and mixed a few things in it before sliding it down the bar to him.

He looked to the drink and then to Hange.

“I drove here.”

“There’s no alcohol in it, although I can fix that if you plan on staying!” Hange chortled jokingly while winking at him as she placed ice into a glass and made another drink. Eren took a sip of the beverage and looked at it and took a bigger gulp. Hange watched him take a sip and leaned on the other side of the bar top.

“Good right?”

Eren nodded as he placed the empty glass on the table.

“It looked like you needed something that makes you feel…happy? I guess the word is.”

“It’s that obvious?” Eren asked as he brought the glass back to his lips to take an ice cube in his mouth. He heard the distant sound of slapping noises and his ears followed the noise to the left of him and blushed, instantly turning away. He was _not_ expecting to see that.

A woman had her bare ass hanging over the side of a couch and someone was flogging her and by the looks of it, she was not opposed to what was happening to her. Her entire bottom was cherry red, and it looked like her panties were twisted to hold her legs together.

Hange was laughing to herself as she watched Eren’s reactions to everything around him. Her shoulders shook as she shook her head and stood up straight while putting her hands on her hips.

“If you’re here for Levi he’s somewhere around here. He might be doing a watch tonight.”

Eren’s ears piqued in interest as he watched Hange move around the bar again. “Watch?” He questioned. Hange nodded as she went into the fridge and pulled out some bottles to put on the shelf and began wiping down the counter after.

“We take rotations of watching scenes that occur. Nothing sexual of course but it’s just to make sure that everything is consensual, and nobody is getting hurt. It’s the one thing we don’t take leniently here.” Eren looked out from the corner of his eye and saw that the man had stopped flogging the lady and was now sitting on the couch and had her in his lap and they were talking quietly to each other. He focused back on Hange and held the cup in his hand.

“Can I get another one of these? They’re actually really good. What is it?”

“It’s cranberry juice, ginger ale and orange juice.”

“Huh. Interesting.” Eren nodded as he straightened his back on the stool and looked around some more. His eyes fell on another scene taking place and turned on his stool to see what was occurring.

* * *

Levi walked down the stairs towards the corridor and saw Oluo wave him over upon seeing him. Levi was in simple black jeans and a black dress shirt with the sleeves rolled at the elbows. He strode towards Oluo with his hands in his pockets.

“What is it Oluo?”

“That little weirdo that you’re so interested in showed up here.”

A look of surprise spread over Levi’s face for a moment before returning to its neutral one.

“You mean Eren?”

Oluo nodded while leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest and pointed to the club.

“He was still in scrubs from what I was able to tell.”

Levi nodded and turned around, walking with more purposeful strides as he strode past Reiner and Bertolt and didn’t say a word. Levi paused for a moment just inside, his eyes scanning every inch of the room for Eren. Why the hell did he come back?

It was almost... _frustrating._ Levi couldn't deny that he felt an interest in Eren but Eren wanted nothing to do with the life he lived. Or he lacked an understanding of anything to do with it. That was something that could be rectified, but that all depended if that's what Eren wanted. He couldn't just be in a normal relationship with someone who wasn't willing to experiment or engage in what he supposed he... _needed_ as a dominant and someone who lived this kind of lifestyle on a regular basis. It wasn't something you'd say like, for example, ' a vampire needs blood', but he admitted that it would be hard to commit to a relationship that was strictly vanilla. It was just how he was. 

His eyes fell on the bar and he saw Eren sitting there while Hange tended to the bar. But he was watching something…Or someone.

His eyes followed were Eren was looking as he slowly approached, watching Eren’s reactions to the scene that he was watching. He was watching a scene between Petra and Eld. Ah, what a pleasant surprise. Those two were always super inhibited in what they did in public. It was almost pleasing to watch Eren so interested in watching the two. He paused at a small pillar near an emergency exit and crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against it and watched what was occurring in front of him unfold.


	12. Surrender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I’m loving that you’re all loving this story! I’m having tons of fun writing it too. I like people to read truthful works about BDSM and all of its elements, and I like educating as well. I’m off for a week here in Canada from college so I shall spend it writing for all of you lovely people!
> 
> Enjoy!

Eren felt his own heart thumping in his chest as he watched the scene unfold in front of him. A few people around the couple had paused to watch, while some had situated themselves into couches around the area and were observing the scene in the process. The man had led the naked woman to sit in front of him, her neck attached to a collar and leash. She was currently sitting between his legs as he patted her head. Eren couldn’t help but feel like he was once again observing something deeply personal and shouldn’t be watching so intensely.

But he was so _…curious_. He wondered; how did anyone get gratification out of that? He was only patting her head. The woman looked like she was about to fall asleep between his legs. The man was only wearing a pair of jeans and boots as he laved the woman with attention.

It was odd. He felt… A longing almost? As if he wanted what she had?

Eren shook his head absently, ridding himself of the thoughts. His eyes focused back on the couple, as they had once again begun to move, and he was now leading the woman to what looked like the same bench he saw when he first came here. His eyes widened and his jaw almost dropped open at when her rear was exposed to his view. Was that…that was…

Did she have a plug inside her ass that was in the shape of a tail? It certainly didn’t look like cheap fur either. Eren was fixated on the couple entirely now as the woman sat back on her haunches and waited for the man to say she could get on the bench. Eren couldn’t help but wonder how the woman didn’t feel any shame or embarrassment. Her fully nude body was exposed to some 50 or 60 people to see either willingly or randomly, and she paid no attention to it at all. It was as if she only saw her partner.

Eren felt like he…needed to get closer. He wanted to see this closer for himself. But could he? Why would he? It would almost make him look super creepy. Eren was just about to get off his stool until he felt a hand on his shoulder shoving him back onto the stool. He looked up, his eyes widening.

“L-Levi!”

Levi wasn’t looking at him, instead, he was focusing on the scene in front of him. His eyes were calculating. Thinking.

Minutes seemed to agonizingly tick by until Levi finally looked to Eren.

“What are you doing back here?” His eyes scanned his attire before silver eyes looked him dead in the eye, no holds barred. Eren swallowed thickly, feeling the intensity of his gaze to his very core. It rooted him to the spot, almost as if he was glued to his seat.

“I…” Eren tried to hold his gaze, it was very nerve-wracking. He felt as if Levi was looking into his very soul and picking out the bits and pieces he found most interesting. He knew to lie to Levi would get him nowhere, and he probably would be able to tell regardless. This man saw through everything.

“I had a rough day at work. I felt…I felt like I should have come here instead of going home.”

Levi arched a brow as he continued to hold his gaze. Everything surrounding him slowly became white noise to Eren as he focused on the man in front of him that was demanding every nano-second of his attention. Eren’s nerves finally got the better of him and he ripped his gaze away, feeling the heat rising up his neck like an itch.

His eyes fell back on the woman who was almost now sobbing, pleading with the man to let her have her orgasm. The man was holding a riding crop in his hands. He found himself looking back to Levi who was now sitting in the stool beside him, waving Hange over. He spoke to her briefly before noticing that Eren was looking at him.

“What happened at the hospital, Eren?”

Eren knew that question was coming, he should have at least expected that by showing up here. He just wasn’t sure if he was ready to talk about it. The misplaced guilt. Stress. The pressure. He loved his work as a nurse and always wanted to help people. This was just the reality that came with the job.

“Eren.”

Eren felt a hand under his chin, lifting his head to look at Levi in the eye. His eyes showed sympathy, but they retained the same intense gaze as they always gave. Eren gradually, almost like sand falling through a sandglass, felt the tenseness of his body fade. He felt like his shoulders have been pinched rigid since he woke up this morning and it was the first time he was able to sag his shoulders in relief. His eyes scoured Levi’s face, now being able to fully take in his face as it was much closer to his.

“I…” Eren paused, not entirely sure how to explain this to him without stressing himself out even further. He didn’t want to talk about it, but he had the feeling that he wouldn’t be getting far without telling Levi what had happened during his shift.

“A Code Blue was called during my shift. A patient had gone into cardiac arrest. We tried everything to save the patient but…He didn’t make it.” Eren’s hands were shaking, trying to choke back the emotions that were threatening to spill over. He let out an audible gasp, eyes widening as he felt Levi’s hand move from under his chin to the side of his face. Eren felt his face heating up as he looked almost in an ashamed manner to the side as he let Levi pat the side of his head. He felt his thumb almost run along his cheek as he continued to sit there quietly.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that, the profession you lead isn’t an easy one. I respect that you took on this kind of work willingly.”

Eren watched as he retracted his hand, looking almost upset. He wasn’t just going to up and tell Levi that his hand had brought him more comfort than anything had in years. In fact, Eren felt very vulnerable at the moment. It was definitely out of character for him, but he didn’t know how to deal with it.

Was it out of character though? Or was he just hiding it?

“Eren. You’re going into your head again. Stop it. If there’s something on your mind, tell me. Don’t let it rot away in your head.” Levi had a drink in his hand now and was taking a sip of it. He was now fully facing Eren with his legs crossed over the barstool. Eren felt himself slowly coming back to reality, becoming more aware of his surroundings. He almost forgot that he was still in his hospital scrubs and almost cringed at the fact. It was as if he had departed his body, and was running on full instinct.

“For some reason… This time was tough.”

Eren shifted on the stool almost awkwardly as his eyes tried to find a spot to stare at. He settled on his empty glass that had melted ice cubs sitting in it. Condensation from the cold glass had dripped onto the wooden bar top.

“…Like it was hitting home, and that I realized something. Although I’m not sure what it was I was figuring out. It was as if things kind of moved into place for me, without me realizing it.” Eren’s hands went to fix his bun, the looseness of the bun starting to become an annoyance. He took the tie out and rubbed his scalp, massaging it briefly from having his hair tied all day. Eren didn’t really register that Levi was sitting there, just watching him go about with his compulsive behaviours.

Once Eren had finished with his hair, he let his hands rest in his lap limply. He let out a sigh as he pulled out his phone, looking at the time. He was about to stick his phone back in his pocket, but Levi’s hand shot out and grabbed him lightly by the wrist.

“You don’t have to go home and be alone Eren.”

“W-what?”

“If you’d rather not be alone, you can stay here for the night. You’ll have your own space, your own room.”

Eren looked almost dumbfound as Levi spoke. Was he hearing this correctly? Or did he pass out and was now currently having some alcoholic induced dream?

No. Eren knew that this wasn’t a dream.

“Since you’re already in your work attire and you drove yourself here you can go to work when you need to. I’ll see to it that your scrubs are clean for tomorrow.”

“Y-you don’t need to do this, really! I’m fine to drive home. I didn’t drink any alcohol and-”

Levi cut him off before he could begin rambling on.

“Oi, listen you brat, I’m offering a gesture, so you don’t go home and have a fucking panic attack at home and alone. Just accept it okay?”

Eren was stunned into silence as Levi downed the rest of his drink and got up. He looked to Eren and waited for him to get up. Eren got to his feet and quietly murmured a ‘thank you’ while trying to maintain eye contact with Levi. It failed miserably, however, and Eren wanted to kick himself in the ass. He was acting like a little girl, and it was really perplexing.

Levi nodded, turning to walk off with Eren following him quietly.

* * *

Hange was basically dancing behind the bar as she whistled, wiping down the counter. She saw Erwin approaching her with an amused look as he took a seat in front of her.

“Something I should be aware of Miss. Hange?”

“Oh, you always miss the juiciest parts, Erwin!” Hange’s fingers thrummed on the bar top as she leant on the bar top. It was slowly starting to thin out in the bar, patrons beginning to make their leave. It was close to closing time, and Hange had to start making her rounds to clean the club.

“Eren came back.”

Erwin arched a blonde brow questioningly. Hange continued on with her self-enthused rant. 

“You TOTALLY missed Levi doing what he does best.”

Erwin let out a boisterous laugh as Hange pointed directly at him while making that claim. He shook his head while his laughing receded.

“I don’t need to be present to know that Levi is good at what he does.”

Hange nodded, her smile becoming warmer and happier. She rested her elbows on the bar top as she absently stared at the dried water stains on her bar surface.

“It looked right though. Eren is his missing piece.”

Erwin looked to Hange, who had taken on a more caring look as opposed to her usual hyperactive, loud self.

“Levi has been alone for as long as I can remember, I just want to see him truly happy for once. Maybe taking on Eren is something they both need. They just aren’t aware of it yet.”

Erwin nodded in agreement while scratching his shoulder, contemplating how to reply to that.

“The only thing is, Eren isn’t familiar with this kind of lifestyle. It’ll be up to Levi to try to ease him into it.”

Hange waved her hand in front of her face, making a ‘pfff’ noise in the process.

“See that’s where you missed out Erwin, it looked so right. I honestly thought Eren had gone into subspace for a moment now that you mention it. He looked so complacent.” Hange saw Levi approaching them and her smile instantly widened. He dragged a stool over and sat down beside Erwin.

“Hange is telling me that I missed some rather crucial things, Levi. Care to elaborate?”

“Hange has a big mouth,” Levi muttered as he leaned his back against the bar, resting his legs on the ring in the stool.

“Oh, come on Levi. I saw it all. Did you kiss him goodnight at least?”

Erwin began chuckling as Levi glared at Hange. He was  _not_ dealing with shitty four-eyes' nonsense tonight.

“He didn’t go home.”

Both Hange and Erwin suddenly went quiet, Hange being the first to react.

“WHAT?!” Hange got right into Levi’s face, said person shoving her face back in annoyance. Hange let out a few inaudible complaints about her glasses being broken as she removed them from her face and cleaned them with a cloth before placing them back on her face.

“You’re too close four-eyes. The brat had a difficult day at the hospital and clearly was in no state to be alone. So, I offered for him to stay here. He’s in the spare room next to Marco.” Erwin nodded as he became the voice of reason, Hange already starting to swim in her own imagination.

“So, what does this mean Levi?”

“It means nothing, Erwin. I’m just trying to be helpful.” Levi ground out as he watched the last few of the customers leave the club for the night. He got up, regarding both Hange and Erwin over his shoulder.

“I’m going to do the last round check and lock up for the night. Can begin shutting down for the night.”

Hange placed her hand on her hip as she shook her head, watching Levi leave the two of them at the bar, not saying anymore.

“He’s in denial.”

Erwin sighed as he got up off the stool as well.

“Enough of that Hange, there’s no point in pressing on it. It’s not really much of our business regardless. Let’s shut down for the night.”

* * *

What did it mean? 

Levi considered this question hard as he walked through the lower levels of the club. Individual rooms have been set up for various scenes of different kinks and fantasies. He wandered down the darkened hallway quietly as he shut off lights, making sure things were clean and in order. He couldn't deny that he felt a pull to the kid. It was certainly obvious that Eren was drawn to him, it was quite obvious by the near subspace state that he was in earlier when he was asking Eren about his day at work. 

Levi wasn't sure if that was anxiety and the need for comfort speaking or if Eren was actually looking to hand the control over to someone else. Levi wasn't looking for a partner, let alone a submissive to have on his plate. He had a place to run and focused most of his time and energy on that.

In short, he wasn't looking for a commitment. 

He came to the end of the hall, shutting the last of the lights off before walking back towards the stairs. He quietly made his way upstairs, shutting and locking the basement door behind him. He walked out from behind the second staircase that led upstairs and saw Erwin at the door, it open. 

"Erwin." 

Erwin looked to Levi and handed him the keys.

"Everything good?" 

Erwin nodded as Hange was at the club entrance, speaking to Reiner. He had his jacket on and was waiting on Bertolt who was still grabbing a few things from inside. Reiner and Bertolt were a few of the individuals who worked at the club but didn't live there. Most of the other people who worked at the club either had already gone home or had retired for the night. Levi was pretty sure that Reiner and Bertolt lived together, but he wasn't entirely certain on that. 

"I'm going to retire early tonight, I had a busy today. Have a good sleep, Levi." 

Levi nodded as Reiner and Bertolt made their way to the door, "Aa. Goodnight." 

Shutting the door and locking it for the night, Levi considered what the morning was going to bring him.


	13. The bean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Waves* 
> 
> I fell on ice yesterday and my body is broken. I just wanted to share my pain with everyone. Excuse me while I infuse my love (dependency) of coffee into this chapter.
> 
> Enjoy! Big chapter too!

Eren’s ascent to consciousness was a slow one the following morning, feeling much more relaxed than usual. He scratched his dishevelled head, eyes squinting as he looked around the unfamiliar surroundings. Then it all came back to him.

_That’s right. Levi had suggested that I stay here for the night._

Eren almost let out a yelp as a loud ringer sounded from his phone that sat on the dresser. It was his alarm, indicating that he had to get up for work. He woke up before his alarm. That was a first…

He sat up quickly in the cushiony bed, the room still pitch black thanks to the blackout curtains. He somehow managed to dodge a potential wipeout while making his way to the dresser to shut off the alarm. He sighed as he looked at the time.

_6:01am. Ugh._

He walked over to the window, slowly pushing one of the heavy curtains aside. The sky was beginning to light, the blue becoming brighter. It looked like it was going to be a nice day, no clouds in sight. Eren stood at the window for a few moments, just watching the outdoors. He absently scratched his bare chest while yawning, and turned to walk over to where his belongings were on the dresser facing adjacent to the bed. His eyes fell on the small chair that was beside the dresser and saw that his nurse scrubs were neatly folded and clean. He placed his hand on the folded clothing.

When did these get here? He recalled Levi telling him that they’d be clean for the morning but when the heck did he have time last night to do laundry? That man was an enigma. He let out a sigh, picking up the uniform and began getting dressed. He took the hair tie that was resting on his wrist and tied his hair into a bun, pocketing his wallet, car keys and phone before slowly opening the room door.

Eren peaked into the hallway, it being completely silent. Who did he speak to? He didn’t want to just randomly leave without saying anything to Levi, but he didn’t want to disturb his sleep either. He stepped out into the hallway quietly, closing the door behind him.

“Why the hell are you wearing shoes inside?”

Eren felt like he jumped a mile in the air, but instead jolting at hearing someone talk, piercing the silence. He turned around quickly, seeing Levi leaning against the doorjamb at the end of the hall.

“L-Levi, I didn’t know who to speak to, I was just about to leave for work.”

“First of all, take off your fucking shoes, don’t wear shoes in my house. Who raised you? Cavemen? That’s quite rude.” Levi watched in amusement as Eren quickly bent over, almost tipping over completely in the process to remove his shoes. He straightened himself, holding the running shoes in his left hand. He smiled sheepishly as he shifted on his socked feet.

“S-sorry about that, I did it unconsciously. I put on my uniform and it just was a normal routine to throw my shoes on as well.”

“So, you wear your shoes indoors at home?” Levi questioned, almost disturbed.

Eren didn’t respond right away, almost a tad embarrassed. He bit his lip awkwardly, not wanting to reply to the retort at all frankly. Levi shook his head as he stood up and walked down the hall.

“Forget it. Just don’t do it again. I’ll make you a coffee before you leave.”

“Thanks…I…” Eren was about to continue but Levi cut him off from continuing his thought.

“This is when you wake up in the morning?” They walked down the stairs together, Eren dropping his running shoes at the door before lightly jogging to catch up with Levi who was walking down the hall that led under the staircase. The hallway, as it turns out led into a kitchen. Eren couldn’t help but feel a wash of morbid embarrassment at his memories of this particular hallway. Realizing that Levi had asked him a question, he cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Yes, when I work the morning shift. If I’m working overnight I’d be coming in at 7:00pm to 7:00am instead of what I’m doing today. 7:00am to 7:00pm.”

“That’s fucking painful. I almost feel sorry for you.”

Eren walked into the kitchen, taking a seat on the last barstool on the counter. He watched as Levi moved around the kitchen, wearing a simple black t-shirt and track pants. When he moved closer to where Eren was sitting, he realized that Levi was also barefoot.

“Almost?” He questioned.

“You wanted the profession; I assume the hours is what you expected.”

Eren couldn’t argue with that. He watched as Levi pulled the full mug away from the coffee machine and brought it over. “Milk? Cream? Sugar?”

“Just milk is fine thanks.”

Levi nodded as he took the carton of milk from the fridge and placed it on the counter. A comfortable silence fell over them as Eren poured milk into the coffee. He placed the carton down, letting Levi take it back to the fridge. Eren brought the cup to his lips, savouring the heady smell of the bean. Just the smell of coffee alone was able to wake him up. Levi watched in interest as Eren seemingly fell in love with the cup, or really, coffee.

“How are you feeling this morning?”

Eren paused with the cup at his lips, before continuing. He thought of a response. How was he feeling? He was feeling relaxed if that’s what he was wondering. But he knew he wasn’t asking if he got a night of proper sleep. After taking a big glug of the caffeinated beverage, he placed it on the counter, a small ‘clink’ noise emitting from the cup tapping against the surface.

“I’m fine. I get over it quickly. The initial shock is…not something you get used to, ever.”

“Can I ask a question, Eren?”

Eren’s eyes shifted to Levi, who was studying Eren. Eren felt a bit uncomfortable with all the focus being on him, so he focused on drinking his coffee, so he didn’t end up being late for work. The hospital wasn’t a long drive from here, but he hated feeling rushed. He nodded as he lifted the cup up again.

“A verbal reply please.”

Eren looked over at Levi again who was still watching him, but this time his expression almost looked annoyed. His brows had a slight furrow, his face neutral.

_Not a morning person I guess…_

“Yes…?” He trailed off, almost as if he was asking a question of his own.

Eren felt like the atmosphere in the room had taken on more of an intense feeling, making him shift on the barstool awkwardly. He swallowed, looking away from Levi and out the sliding door that was closed. The house was facing the main road that led into the city.

He heard Levi let out a huff through his nose and footsteps. Eren pretended not to notice Levi walking around him, to the barstool beside him. He continued to watch cars zip by in a stream of various colours.

“Eren.”

Eren looked to Levi, who was now actually standing in front of him with an amused expression on his face. His expression only showed more amusement when Eren struggled to look at him in the eyes.

“Go to work, and don’t wear your shoes in my house again.”

* * *

Compared to yesterday, today was a lot quieter in the ICU. Eren went through his rotations, checking in on the patients and speaking to the doctor and fellow nurses. Sasha was off today, usually when she was off Eren took her place and did most of the administrative work she conducted along with his usual duties.

He opened Meditech and began updating patient logs and medical information from the files that have been signed off by the doctor. There were a few that needed to be checked over by the doctor, so he did not touch them.

Armin had told him earlier that Mikasa would be joining them for lunch today, finally all managing to have connected lunch breaks. Eren felt like he hadn’t seen Mikasa in weeks considering that they worked in the same building. Looking at the computer clock, it read 1:15pm. He sighed as he continued to type away on the computer, his fingers dancing across the keyboard as if they were enthralled.

He looked down at the patient file to type the information into the EMR.

 **Patient:** Hugo Fredricks

 **Patient ID:** 199203

 **DOB:** 10/01/1977

 **SEX:** M

 **HISTORY OF PRESENT ILLNESS:** Recent onset; hemoptysis, history of tuberculosis.

 **PROCEDURE PREFORMED:** Bronchoscopy.

Eren was so engrossed in the computer screen that he didn’t notice someone was speaking to him. He looked back down to the file, muttering the information to himself while looking back to the computer and typing away.

“Oi, brat, are you fucking brain dead?”

He continued to mutter words to himself while looking to the person speaking to him, briefly ignoring it to look back to the computer before looking back again but this time in shock and fully stopping what he was doing.

Levi was standing there with Erwin, both looking at him with incredulous looks. Eren’s mouth opened to say something, then it closed. He sat back on the chair, closing the file and placing it on the other side of the keyboard.

“Uh…Sorry, my brain is neck-deep in respiratory infections. W-what are you guys even doing here?”

Levi arched a brow at his reply, starting to question his sanity or if Eren was just overworked. “Me and Erwin were out doing errands and stopped in to get tea before we headed back.” He placed the large cup of coffee on the receptionist counter, Eren looking at it as if he was being offered gold.

“Figured you’d be happy to see this since you seem to worship the ground coffee rests on.”

Eren let out a nervous laugh, seeing Armin and Mikasa standing at the other end of the counter watching the exchange. Armin was shocked, while Mikasa looked more somber, almost cautious.

“Thanks, I appreciate it. Really. And yes, I do happen to worship the coffee bean.” Eren gave a little jab at himself in reply, going along with the conversation. He smiled at both of them, feeling a little more at ease. He took a sip of the coffee, placing it on the desk.

_No sugar, just milk._

He found himself absently smiling at the coffee cup. It’s nice when someone remembers how they like their coffee. It makes you feel important. He distantly heard Erwin chuckling, and he looked up to both men who were watching him in amusement. He noticed the corners of Levi’s lips tilting up, the most of a smile he’d probably ever see.

“That’s all we wanted to do. We’ll be leaving now.” Levi made a gesture with his hand as they turned and made their way towards the exit of the ICU unit. Eren watched until they were gone, and then Armin and Mikasa came around the desk ready to lay on the questions thick.

“Who was that Eren?” Mikasa questioned right off the bat.

“I-ah…uh…” Eren felt the heat beginning to rise up his neck, desperately wanting to avoid this question in the middle of the unit. He shooed them away as the doctor walked by, giving the three of them a glare before continuing on.

“I’ll meet you guys downstairs; I need to finish these files. I don’t need to be yelled at today.” Eren rubbed his sinuses, already hearing the doctor bitching at him in the back of his head. Armin nodded, already feeling the vibe of his best friend.

“Come on Mikasa, he’ll join us shortly.”

He heard their footsteps retreating, only then did he fully recline in the chair, ignoring the squeaking protests of him leaning too far back. He stared at the ceiling, huffing loudly. He needed to mentally prepare himself for the barrage of questions he was going to get. Where did Sasha keep her stash of Advil? He went fishing through drawers and didn’t find any medicine but did find various stashes of food. Eren shook his head to himself, eyes widening in glee as he finally fell upon the bottle of Advil. He placed the bottle on the desk and went back to finishing the file on Mr. Fredricks before heading for lunch.

* * *

Eren didn’t even get the second to place his bottle of water and sandwich down on the table before Armin and Mikasa laid it on him.

“Guys, breathe. Seriously.” Eren sat down, trying to keep his cool as he cracked open the water bottle and took a large sip of it. He felt Armin and Mikasa both staring at him and honestly, Eren was kind of done with people staring at him as if he was some kind of specimen to be examined. Leave that to the Pathologists.

He sighed and rolled his eyes, unravelling the sandwich.

“Remember when Jean, Connie, you and me went to that club Jean suggested?” Eren said, referring to Armin. Armin nodded as Mikasa listened intently, sticking a single fry in her mouth.

“Well, those guys are from that club. The shorter one is the one I’ve been kind of talking to the last few days.”

“He’s a midget.” Mikasa quipped, sticking another fry in her mouth. Eren took a bite of his sandwich while ignoring the comment.

“In his defense, I’m super tall. I even dwarf you, Mikasa.” Eren looked back to Armin who was quietly sitting there, already finished his lunch. Armin was the quieter one out of everyone, even back in university opting to be in the library instead of going partying or clubbing. He was still in the process of completing medical school, currently shadowing under another doctor here at the hospital.

“Armin, I have a question to ask. You don’t have to say yes.” Eren almost cringed at himself that he was about to ask Armin this. He highly doubted that he will agree, _but…_

“I plan on returning tonight. Will you come with me?”

“Eren you seriously can’t be-” Mikasa interjected. Eren rested his elbow on the table and pointed at her with his whole hand while giving her an exasperated look, cutting her off before she continued on her oncoming rant.

“Mikasa, I wasn’t asking you the question. Trust me, I know what I’m doing.” Mikasa quieted down, looking back to her fries and eating quietly. Armin looked from Mikasa back to Eren with slightly widened eyes.

“Me? Why?”

“I feel like things would go a lot more smoothly if you came with me as opposed to Jean or Connie. Plus, I want you to meet someone actually.”

“M-me? Oh, um… Well, I suppose so, I’m off tomorrow regardless.” Armin gave Eren a timid smile, who in return gave him a smile of his own and refocused on finishing his sandwich. It was quiet at their table, the loud chatters of patients, families and employees alike filtering in the cafeteria.

“Eren.”

“Yes, Mikasa?”

“I still don’t like that guy.”

“I know, Mikasa. You don't need to tell me, I know.” 

Mikasa smiled as she popped another fry into her mouth, the three friends enjoying the rest of their lunch before duty called. 


	14. Thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone is staying healthy in these hard times and that their families are safe. Our hospital is working extra hard to ensure that our patients are safe and healthy. As medical professionals, it is our primary concern and goal to make sure that everyone stays healthy. 
> 
> I also went through all the chapters until now, editing things and fixing sentences. Since school got moved to remote due to the situation I've had a bit more time to do things such as these until classes resume. Half a year passes and your writing changes even then...
> 
> Behemoth chapter again.
> 
> Be safe, be well.

Eren pulled up to Armin’s small home around 8:00pm. He saw the front light on and a shadow moving around, telling him that Armin was most likely getting his outerwear on before locking up the house. He pulled over near the curb, changing into park. Eren relaxed into the worn seat of his little car as he waited for Armin to come out. Mikasa had spent the rest of the day texting him and trying to talk him out of what he was about to do but Eren wasn’t having it. He was old enough to make his own decisions and knew when something was piquing his interest. Mikasa knew that as well but she still was the protective older sister he didn’t have. He had also texted Levi earlier in the day informing him that he would be bringing a guest along with him later that night. Levi had simply said ‘ok’, and changed the topic to how his day went. Their conversations usually went this way, Levi asking how work was, and Eren talking through it. Eren appreciated it.

He was brought out of his head at the sound of Armin tapping on his car window. Eren hastily unlocked it, fumbling with the lock for a moment before successfully getting the door unlocked for Armin. Armin smiled as he got into the car, putting on his seatbelt.

“You sure you’re okay with this Armin?” Eren questioned. “You really don’t have to come if you’re uncomfortable with this whole idea you know…” He trailed off as Armin shook his head. Eren looked him questioningly as Armin waved his hand. “If blood and guts don’t make me uncomfortable I doubt people indulging in whatever fantasies they enjoy will make me any more uncomfortable, Eren. Plus, I’ve already been to this place.” Eren chuckled as he pulled away from the curb, turning from the quiet street onto the main roads. “That’s true, however, you see something new every time.”

Armin looked out the passenger window, the lights of the city looking almost like a strobe through the car window as they moved through the streets smoothly. “So,” Armin started as he looked over to Eren. “I know you didn’t want to get into much details with Mikasa around, want to tell me more about this guy? I mean, details that I don’t already know.”

Eren let out a sigh as he bit his bottom lip in thought.

“It’s kind of weird right now.”

“What do you mean?”

“I…I don’t really know Armin, we’re just kind of talking I guess. I can tell that this isn’t really his kind of thing. Just…talking. I feel like I’m wasting his time sometimes.”

They made a left that led out of the city and more into the country. The lights faded, and soon they were driving in the dark. Eren scratched his eyebrow as he huffed. He doubted Armin knew much about BDSM, he didn’t know much more than Armin did, and all he could do was go off of what he currently did know.

“It’s hard to explain. I need to know more about what he does before we commit to anything of any kind. Although I have a feeling he can give what I want.”

They eventually came to the large house. There weren’t many cars in the small lot as it was still early in the night. Eren parked, removing his seatbelt as Armin did the same. He looked over to Armin out from the corner of his eye.

“Last chance man.”

Armin gave him a thumbs up, “Do your worst Eren.”

Eren grinned at Armin and slapped his shoulder, moving to get out of the car. They walked towards the entrance in silence.

“Okay, one thing I will mention though is that this is a place where people can do the things they want without being judged or looked at in disgust or shame. It’ll be really rude to just stare at people in disgust when they are doing what they enjoy, so just refrain from doing that.” Armin nodded, “That makes sense.”

“Obviously this is a controlled environment if you find yourself in a situation of any kind that you aren’t comfortable with and the other person isn’t backing off there are monitors around the whole place.” Armin looked to Eren in shock as they walked up the steps towards the big wooden doors. Eren opened the door and held it for Eren. “Also, there is a membership fee, but I think yours is still valid… We’ll see when we get there. See if this is what you want. Although, you’re just coming because I asked.” They came to the desk and came face to face with the same man Eren saw two nights ago working reception.

He looked up to the two, his eyes going between the two of them. “New guest?” Eren put his elbows on the desk, making conversation with the receptionist. “Actually, he was here a few days ago with me and another friend. I’m just curious if it’s still valid. If not, I’ll cover it.” The grey-haired receptionist nodded, turning his attention to Armin as Eren backed away from the desk as Armin took over.

Eren walked over to a small bench that was situated against the wall near the door as the receptionist spoke to Armin. There wasn’t much chatter coming through the club room, although the music as loud per usual. Eren noticed the same bulking blonde man standing at the entrance, however, he was alone this time, lacking his black-haired companion.

“Eren!”

Eren’s head shot up, trying to locate the voice that called his name. His eyes fell upon the staircase to Hange who was almost galloping down the stairs, Erwin and another blonde-haired man in tow.

“Wow Eren, I’d say you’re almost becoming a regular here! Something catch your interest?” She winked playfully at him, followed by a laugh as Eren’s face turned a light shade of pink. She moved to sit beside Eren on the bench, him moving over to accommodate two adult bodies on the smell bench.

“Hange, stop picking on him.” Erwin chided as he noticed Eren’s body language change from comfortable and calm to nervous and almost shy.

“I’m not! I’m always happy to Eren!”

“Eren!”

Eren was starting to feel like they were going to make a song in his name…

All 4 heads turned to Armin who was walking over while folding a sheet of paper into the back pocket of his dark jeans. Eren went to stand up to go meet up with his best friend.

“Everything good Armin?” Armin nodded as he looked over Eren’s shoulder to the 3 strangers who were watching them converse. He nodded to Eren, almost nudging him to introduce him to the strangers.

“Ah, yeah. Sorry, I’m a complete oddball at this thing.” Eren turned on his heel to Erwin, Hange and Micke.

“Everyone this is my friend Armin; he works at the hospital with me. He’s an intern doctor at the moment and finishing medical school. Armin has met Erwin already, Armin, this is Hange and…” Eren blinked a few times before smiling again, albeit nervously this time. “I actually haven’t met you either, so…” Eren moved toward to shake the stranger’s hand with a sheepish smile. “I’m Eren, and this is Armin.” The blonde moved to meet Eren halfway, shaking his hand with a small smile, then going to shake Armin’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you both, my name is Micke.” Armin turned to Hange and Erwin, giving them both a smile and going to shake their hands.

Hange shot up from her seat and went to squeeze Armin’s cheek.

“He’s so adorable! Look at these cheeks!”

“Hange, you didn’t ask if he was okay with that. Stop it.” Erwin wasn’t impressed with Hange’s usual boisterous behaviour, although most were used to it, those people also knew Hange. Hange released Armin’s cheek, who let out a little laugh nervously while rubbing his now throbbing cheek.

“Why don’t we all get a table inside? I’m sure we can find something no problem this early into the night.” Micke looked over to the clock behind Oluo, seeing that it was just past 9:00pm. Eren nodded as the three older members led the way towards the club. Armin arched a brow as he watched them walk off.

“He isn’t here,” Armin noted.  

“He will be, probably tending to other things. Plus, I told him I’ll be here tonight with you. Come on.” Eren started walking, releasing his hair from its tie to tighten his hair into the tie. Shorter strands fell from the bottom, some along his ears. The closer he got to the entrance, the more nervous Eren was starting to feel. He nervously brought down the ends of his black tee over his skinny jeans as he walked inside. He waited on Armin who was getting patted down as a first comer.

He saw the others grabbing a small booth that was snug into a corner of the club. He noticed Hange thumb pointing towards the bar, his eyes following to the bar. The man named Marco was manning the bar, an almost innocent expression on his face as he smiled at customers who came to the bar. He saw a sign hanging from the bar top. He squinted to read it, and his eyes went wide as saucers when he read the words on it.

**SLUT WANTS TO BE TOUCHED BY ANYONE WHO ASKS.**

**L**

“O-oh my…” Armin had caught Eren’s gaze and also had read the sign.

“Come on Armin.”

Eren hadn’t spoken to Jean in a few days, probably since they all came here for the first time. Was he still talking to this guy? Jean probably wouldn’t appreciate seeing this, and he knew Jean was a rather possessive guy… He’d have to remember to text Jean and see how he’s been doing tomorrow.

They made their way over to the booth, Eren moving to sit beside Hange. Erwin got up, letting Armin sit in the booth. Armin smiled his thanks, almost shyly, tucking blonde hair behind his ear as he sat between Micke and Erwin.

Eren felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. He half stood on the bench to get his phone out of his pocket. It was a text message from Levi. Before replying, he ordered a drink along with everyone else as his attention went back down to his phone.

_Levi: Are you here?_

**Eren: I am. I’m here with Erwin, Hange, Micke, and my friend Armin.**

When he didn’t get a reply, he stuck his phone back in his pocket, bringing himself back to the conversation at hand. Armin was talking about his life as a medical student, and how much he has left to go before going for his licensing exams.

“So, Erwin, when is it starting?”

Eren’s attention went to Micke, who was sipping on a pint of beer. Hange let out a gasp, as if she remembered something critical.

“When is what starting?” Eren questioned. His phone buzzed again, looking from his lap to Hange who was now looking at him.

“Erwin is doing a shibari demonstration. He’s one of our best.”

“Shibari?” Eren queried, eyes going between Erwin and Hange.  

Erwin cut in before Hange could speak again.

“Japanese bondage. Tying someone up in beautiful, intricate patterns. It’s quite amazing really. You should watch when I get started.” He looked to Armin who was listening curiously, but also wary.

“It’s nothing extreme, I assure you.” He smiled as he lifted his glass to his lips. Eren nodded, that sounded interesting. Maybe he would actually check it out once Erwin got started. _Although…_ His eyes scanned the room, no signs of Levi anywhere. He almost let out an audible gasp in remembrance as he pulled out his phone.

_Levi: Would your friend be comfortable if you were absent for a while? I wanted to speak to you about something. If not I’ll come and sit with everyone. Sorry, I’m just crazy busy with paperwork._

Eren reread the text once over, making sure he wasn’t misunderstanding what he texted him. His eyes fluttered up to Armin, who was having a rather in-depth conversation with Micke about Trost Hospital, Erwin and Hange discussing…whatever they were talking about.

He watched Armin until he noticed that Eren was trying to get his attention. He looked to Eren, ready to hear what he had to say.

“Are you okay if I go away for a few minutes?” Armin nodded in understanding, a smile creeping on his face as he smothered the smile that was threatening to turn into a grin. Erwin and Hange were now listening to Eren speaking to his friend since Eren was on the other side of Hange.

“Where ya headed Eren?” Hange quipped as Eren looked at her over his shoulder with almost a playful smirk.

“Oh, come on Hange, you know already.”

Hange’s mouth dropped open at Eren’s sudden burst of confidence. She was loving it! She wagged her finger at him while laughing, “Watch your language pretty boy!” Eren let out a laugh as he walked away from the booth, biting his lip. He felt his heart beating in his chest like a racehorse. He made his way to the exit, pulling out his phone to text Levi back. As he walked across the doorway he saw Levi at the receptionist's desk, talking to the receptionist. He walked over to the two men, Levi looking over to Eren who quietly walked over to them.

“Ah, so you were able to get away. I hope your friend didn’t mind.”

Eren shook his head, “He seemed to be having a rather serious conversation with Micke.” Levi nodded as he bid farewell to the man, walking over to Eren. He led the way to the staircase, pausing just at the bottom. He turned to Eren, his gaze levelled and confident as always.

“Listen, before we even go upstairs, if you at any time feel uncomfortable, tell me. Even if it’s something you just see, tell me.” Eren nodded slowly, Levi doing one nod back before turning to walk up the stairs. Eren followed him up, leading him down the second-floor hallway. They were going in the opposite direction of where he stayed the one night. He followed Levi to the second last room on the right.

Eren’s eyes took in the sight of the room as he walked in. It was an office, but a very… _specific_ office. The walls were completely black, all there was, was a single desk with a chair, and another chair sitting across from it. That’s it. That’s all there was in the black room. Levi turned to Eren, who’s eyes were taking in the new surroundings.

“What’s going through your head, Eren. Tell me.”

“Um… Nothing outrageous, just a rather…empty room. Dark too.”

Levi nodded as he went to sit at the desk, gesturing for Eren to sit in the other chair. He folded his hands on the desk as he looked at Eren.

“Yes, it is. But that’s for a very specific reason. We call this the negotiating room. People who…Begin BDSM based relationships come in here to talk out things amongst themselves and sign a contract. That’s why there’s only a desk in here. This room serves one purpose, and one purpose alone. There isn’t even a carpet in here.”

Eren agreed on that, it felt like he was sitting in a black box.

But wait a moment.

Levi noticed the expression in Eren change as he fully registered what Levi had just told him, and he put his hand up to stop him before he began ranting.

“No, that’s not what’s happening here. Although I did want to simply just chat. Are you comfortable with that Eren?”

“Yes…although, what is you exactly wanted to talk to me about?”

“Everything. I don’t mean your day by day life either, we do that already. I want to know more…about you. What compels you to come here each time? What do you see that piques your interest, even in the slightest? I want to know more about you Eren. You’re interesting to me I’ll admit that, but I’m not going to engage in anything remotely physical or even mentally if we don’t discuss these things.”

Eren swallowed thickly. He knew he was going to get asked these questions eventually. It came with getting to know someone like Levi. He just didn’t know how…

“Eren.”

Eren’s eyes went to Levi’s, silver eyes boring into his green ones.

“Don’t hide in your head, tell me you’re thinking. That’s one of the main things I value, telling me what’s wrong without me having to ask or trying to figure it out. I want you to be able to trust me enough to willingly tell me what’s going on before I even have to try to figure it out.”

“It’s…not that simple.” Eren said.

“Of course, it’s not that simple, tch.” Levi leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest, taking in Eren’s body language about the current situation. Just getting a feel for the man sitting across from him. When they had initially met, he demonstrated such a cocky attitude. What changed that?

“Here. Maybe this might help instead.” Levi went into the top drawer of the desk, pulling out a long single sheet of paper. It seemed to have a list of things with checkboxes on it.

“I want you to go through this list now, and check off everything that remotely piques curiosity. X off things that you definitely don’t have an interest in. Color in the box if it’s something you enjoy or think you’d enjoy.” He turned the sheet over and slid it to Eren. “While you’re doing that, I want you to tell me about your full day at work. When you had texted me telling me that you were coming I asked you the same question, but now I want to know how the rest of your day went. Is that okay with you, Eren?”

Eren nodded dumbly, gaping like a fish at the list.

“Verbal reply, Eren.” Levi's stern voice sliced through the rush of thoughts going a mile a minute in his head.

“Y-yes, yes it’s okay with me.”

The first thing was…

**Anal fisting.**


	15. List

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *bows* I come bearing gifts on this dreary day. All non-essential businesses are to close at 11:59pm here in Ontario. These rules are being implemented because people are ignoring the governments urging of social distancing. Please utilize your social distancing if you are out, and don't go out unless it's absolutely necessary. We need to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and everybody must do their part.
> 
> Musical inspiration: When a Shadow Is Forced into the Light by Swallow the Sun and Gallows Bird by Trees of Eternity. You don’t need to listen to the songs during this chapter, but they did help in setting the setting for this chapter. Enjoy!

Eren was stunned into silence, staring moronically at the sheet of paper in front of him. _How…_ People found these things to be enjoyable. Or pleasurable for that matter. Eren was treading into completely unknown territory here, and he knew that Levi would be willing to answer any questions he had.

“So, Eren. How was your day?”

Levi was now resting back in the tall office chair as he pulled out a stack of papers absently, flicking through them before placing them back in the drawer and shutting it.

“It…uh…” Eren cleared his throat as his eyes scanned the list for the umpteenth millionth time. “It was busy. But more relaxed than the other night. Erwin’s father had come in for a check-up which went okay. He was with his daughter.”

_Anal fisting, definitely not._ He x’d off that one. His eyebrows furrowed at the next one. His eyes lifted to Levi, pointing to the sheet of paper with a dubious look. Levi questioningly arched a brow at him as Eren continued to just give Levi a look like had grown another head.

“Sounding? Are you serious?”

“I imagine your opinions on that are entirely medical, given your profession as a nurse.” Eren nodded incredulously as his grip on the pen in his hand tightened. “Am I allowed to completely scratch something out?” The corner of Levi’s mouth tilted into almost a smirk, smothering it back to a neutral expression. Eren was being cheeky, but he could understand why his opinion on something like that would be completely clinical and not pleasurable at all.

“No, don’t scratch it out. Just do as I asked, I understand that if it’s something you’d want to avoid.” He watched as Eren furiously marked an x in the box.

“Have you…ever done sounding before?”

“I’ve done it to someone, but I’ve never had it done to me. It’s a very specific taste and not at all uncommon for people to think it odd. We’ll avoid it completely if it’s something you’re very put off with.” Levi uncrossed his leg as he went to stand up. “I’m going to get some tea. Would you be interested in some?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Levi nodded as he rounded the table. “I’ll be back, continue looking over the list. When I return we’ll go over it and I’ll answer any questions you may have.”

Eren waited until Levi was outside of the black room, the door shut quietly behind him. Eren let out an exhausted groan as he rested his head against the desk, underestimating how fast his head was going to meet the surface. He let out an audible groan at the slight pain on his forehead. He definitely had gotten transported to a parallel universe. His breathing was coming heavily through his nose as he tried to calm himself down, rationalizing himself with the situation.

_This is all new. Reactions are totally justified. Levi seems to be rather understanding of the situation as well. He definitely wants to teach me as well. But what does…that mean?_

His eyes fell to the paper.

_Anal Fisting        Edge Play         Pet Play       Electro-stim      Fire Play_

_Sounding              Flogging           Shibari        Hogtie       Foot Fetish_

_Wax Play             Knife Play        Play Party      TPE (Total Power Exchange)     Furries_

_Cock Rings         Impact Play       CBT (Cock and Ball Torture)      Age Play_

_Masochism        Sensory Deprivation       Breath Play       Asphyxiation_

_Cosplay/Roleplay       Needle Play        Caning      Branding     Sadism        Pony Play_

_Consensual Non-con     Medical Play      Daddy Kink     Cross Dressing    Sadomasochism_

“Oh, God,” Eren muttered to himself. Half these things he didn’t even know were a thing. His eyes fell below the list to a sentence in bold.

****Only more common kinks are listed above; more detailed and uncommon kinks are to be discussed between the dominant and submissive if considering engagement and verbal and written consent must be given between the two individuals.****

“Okay,” Eren said quietly as he picked up the pen. If he wanted Levi to take him seriously he was going to have to show him that he was serious in return. He’d just leave the things empty that he wasn’t sure about and he could ask later on it. He vaguely heard the door opening and closing quietly behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw Levi approaching the desk with a teapot and two cups in his hand. Eren got up to help him and Levi shook his head. He sat down slowly as he placed the hot pot on the table and carefully placing the two cups down along with it.

It was quiet as Eren watched Levi pour tea into the cups with practiced calm. It almost had a calming effect to see him do something so jovial. Levi’s eyes flickered to Eren, noticing he was just sitting there watching him.

“Did you go over the list?”

Eren was about to nod in reply, but he recalled previously that Levi didn’t like it when he nodded. He could understand that verbal responses can tell you a lot more than yes or no.

“I did, but…There were some things I wasn’t sure what they entailed. So, I didn’t do anything.” Levi placed the hot cup in front of him, murmuring to be careful due to the hot cup. He picked up the sheet of paper, walking over to the other side of the desk and sitting down while his eyes went over the paper.

Eren sat there quietly, holding the hot cup in his hand. He listened to the faint sound of music coming from below, the music picking up and taking on more of a darker and heavier tone.  

_And the wings will carry these shadows and the light,_ _and the scars like diamonds will cut through the veil of night…_

“So out of all of these, the only things you definitely wouldn’t consider are anal fisting, sounding, pony play, daddy kinks, furries, medical play, sadism, sadomasochism, fire play, or needle play.” Levi nodded as he continued to absorb the new information. “So, we’ll label those as hard limits, things you don’t feel comfortable engaging in.” Levi was impressed with the list, most of the hard limits Eren had established were things he most expected. What impressed him the most was what wasn't crossed off as hard limits.

Eren continued to sit there quietly and drink his tea. Levi’s eyes rose to meet his. “Yes?” He asked.

“Yes.” Eren paused for a moment before continuing, “This tea is really nice. Thank you.”

A contented look spread across Levi’s face as he went back to the paper.

“Everything else you’d be open to attempting and are comfortable with cross-dressing, sensory deprivation and masochism. Question marks with a few as well. That’s okay.” Levi placed the paper on the desk.

“When you come here each time, what are your eyes most drawn to? Just in a general perspective, it doesn’t have to be related to this.”

Eren shifted on his chair, finishing the rest of the tea before placing it on the desk carefully. He had to think about that one, every time he stepped into this establishment it was like a punch in the gut, a shock to the system. Maybe that wasn’t the right way to describe it, but it was as if it was the first time walking in there every, single, time. He began chewing the inside of his cheek as he thought about the question.

“I think the biggest thing I notice is the atmosphere. There’s no tension, it’s very calm and relaxed. Everyone there is willing and enjoying themselves.”

“Yes, I created this place for that very reason. For people to enjoy their depravities without judgement. Every time someone walks in through those doors they no longer have those worries. Even I, have those worries.”

Eren didn’t comment on what Levi said, he simply sat there and listened. The back of his head suddenly had an itch and he reached to his head to scratch the underside of his bun. As soon as he touched it his lip curled into a frown, removing the tie completely to release the brown tresses that have been tied into the bun for hours on end. He massaged his scalp, forgetting that he was not alone in the room as he tied his hair back up. Levi was watching him with blatant amusement, arm resting on the armrest with his cheek resting on his hand.

“It’s interesting to watch you just go into your regular habits as if it’s nothing. Usually, people are uncomfortable doing that around new people.”

Eren’s lips broke out into a small smile as he looked to his empty cup.

“Did you want more?” Levi queried.

“Please. Ah, there actually was something I did want to ask.”

“Of course, go ahead,” Levi replied as he sat up to pour more tea into the cup.

“Erwin had earlier mentioned something about doing Shi-…Shibari? Shibari? Am I saying that correctly?” He watched as Levi paused for the briefest moment before continuing pouring them both tea. “Shibari, yes that’s correct. What about it?”

“I was curious about observing it. It sounded…delicate. Like art.”

Levi pulled his phone out of his pocket to look at the time.

“Erwin isn’t supposed to start for another half an hour. He’ll be demonstrating with Petra. We can do that if that’s what you’d like. I need to finish off a few things first. Finish your tea then go back downstairs, I’ll meet up with the lot of you shortly.” He was already moving to get up, only pausing when he noticed that Eren didn’t move from his seat.

“Something wrong?”

Eren found himself just staring blankly at Levi, his bottom lip resting between his teeth as he chewed on it gently. It was baffling him each time that Levi was indulging in his ignorance. But he did say that he wanted Eren to experience this in a way that was comfortable for him and that he’d enjoy it. He briefly wondered if Levi had ever done Shibari before. He had no idea what it was, other than people got tied up in complex patterns, according to Erwin.

Levi tying somebody up. Strong arms deftly tying expert knots. Levi tying Eren up, silver eyes staring into his very being. Watching him as he continued to tie knots along his body. He felt himself starting to become a tad warm, like as if his clothing was a second, thicker, skin.

“Oi, brat, I said something, get going.”

Eren’s eyes fluttered heavily as he came back to reality, no longer in his head. He went to stand, making sure that the chair wasn’t scraping the flooring in the process. He felt the embarrassment creeping up his neck as he clearly was caught having indecent thoughts about the man in front of him. He looked to the full cup of tea on the desk, considering if he even wanted to drink the cup anymore. Eren wanted to speak, but no words were able to leave his throat. Levi watched the embarrassment build on Eren, watching him in amusement.

“Eren.”

“Aah?” He almost choked out.

“I’ll see you downstairs.”

Eren sighed as he walked across the front foyer, trying to brush off the utter humiliation he just caused himself. There was no way Levi didn’t know what was going through his head, or at least that his thoughts were anything but decent.

And who was he to blame?

* * *

Eren walked back into the club room, eyes falling on the booth. Everyone was still there sans Erwin. He approached the table, all eyes turning to Eren. A smile stretched on Armin's face at seeing his best friend coming back. Eren moved in to sit beside Armin, waiting for the onslaught of questions to begin.

“So?” Armin asked almost expectantly.

“Sooooo?” Hange dragged out, repeating the same question again. Eren rolled his eyes at the two. They were almost too much, especially Hange. Hange had a personality that you either loved or hated, but she managed to make everyone laugh and work her way into each of their hearts as a valued friend.

“I think you need to calm down the overactive imaginations,” Eren remarked as he shook his head, looking to Micke who was giving him his sympathies. He was also shaking his head while nursing a glass of water.

“We just talked. Nothing more. He did say he’ll be down to watch Erwin though.”

Eren nudged Armin’s shoulder, leaning in to speak to him quietly. “Did you talk to Erwin at all?” He watched as Armin’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink, and Eren jerked back to regard his best friend.

“Armin you’re blushing.”

“O-oh! I am, aren’t I?” He almost stuttered out, trying to hide his face in his sweater. Eren pointed his finger on the table, leaning back into Armin. “You talked to him didn’t you?” Armin nodded, leaning to meet his friend halfway, shoulders meeting as he whispered to him, “He’s very intimidating, like a bear almost. He’s very polite though. We talked about work and the hospital. Micke is very nice too.”

“Hey what are you two girls gossiping about over there?”

Eren looked across the table to Hange and Micke. There was a third person now standing at the end of the table, leaning on the side of the booth. She had short light auburn hair and brown eyes. She was smiling at the two of them, almost giggling in the process.

“This is Petra. She’ll be doing the Shibari demonstration with Erwin.” Hange supplied as realization dawned on Eren. He rose from his seat to greet her properly.

“I’m Eren, and this is Armin. It’s nice to meet you.” Petra let out another light giggle as she leaned in to squeeze Eren’s cheek lightly. She shook his cheek in the process. “I know who you are, I think everybody already knows who you are. And it’s nice to meet the both of you as well.” She looked to Armin, sharing the same smile as she looked over to Hange and Micke. Eren rubbed his cheek as he watched Petra talk to Hange and Micke, not really listening to their conversation. What did she mean? Everybody knows who he was? He’s literally only been here 4 times and she’s claiming that everybody knows him?

From around Petra came Erwin, Levi walking shortly behind him. He regarded Eren, moving to stand between Eren and Petra. Petra waved to everyone, squeezing Levi’s nose to which he did not appreciate at all, before giggling and turning to follow Erwin to a sectioned off area of the large club room. He frowned at Petra’s retreating figure before turning to face Eren.

“Did you want to find somewhere closer? I imagine you’ve never witnessed something quite like this before.” Eren nodded in agreement to both statements, as he looked over to their other companions. Hange waved her hand, dismissing them. “We’ll catch up! I know Armin was also interested in watching as well.” Armin nodded in agreement to Eren, who got the message before turning back to look at Levi. He was standing there casually with his hands in his pockets. He was wearing a simple black shirt again and dark grey slacks and dress shoes.

“Come, Eren.”

Eren fully turned to make his approach to Levi, who was watching him walk over to him. It was an unspeakable force, an instinctive urge to respond to every word he uttered that was self-satisfying and a need. He didn't fully understand it himself, but he felt like it was the right thing to do. He followed Levi to an area near the setting with a small black couch. As they came closer, people parted and greeted Levi with reverence and grace. People were also looking at Eren too, whispers of surprise and wonder of who the newcomer was. Eren wasn’t uncomfortable with this, but he found himself almost walking with a more confident stride. He enjoyed that feeling. The feeling that people were curious about him, why he was with Levi, who he was.

Was he his?


	16. Rope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Musical inspiration: Blackhole Sun by Soundgarden.

Eren wasn’t really sure what he was supposed to be doing, if anything.

“Levi…” Eren began. He wasn’t listening and was speaking to Erwin who was now dressed in completely different attire than earlier in the night. The woman named Petra was organizing long, thick ropes on a nearby table, only wearing a simple black robe. She was also barefoot. He looked back to Levi and frowned at that he was still talking to him. He tugged on Levi’s short sleeve, said turning looking over to him.

“Sorry, Eren. I was just going over a few things with Erwin before he started. Are you alright?” Eren nodded dumbly as he shifted on the soft couch. “I feel really out of place.” He said lowly to Levi who gave him a quizzical look. Eren sighed out loud as he tried to formulate the proper words to explain to Levi what he was feeling. “I feel like everyone is watching us, or really me. I don’t really care but… It’s just weird feeling eyes on me.”

“Ignore it. People need to learn how to keep their noses out of other people’s business.” Levi’s expression was in its usual neutral expression, however, there were hints of a frown beginning to appear on his lips as he watched Erwin and Petra prepare their demonstration. Looking around, Eren noticed a larger crowd had formed around them. Armin, Hange, and Micke still weren’t anywhere to be seen. Did they decide not to come to watch? His eyes fell back on Erwin and Petra as people began clapping and falling silent.

“Thank you all for coming to observe tonight’s demonstration. We’ll be doing a demonstration of kinbaku with Petra tonight. Everyone give a round of applause for Petra tonight.” Petra smiled, almost shyly while waving to the crowd. Eren almost jumped out of his skin when Levi leaned over to him, his mouth just a breadth away from his ear. “Kinbaku is a type of Shibari. It can be an absolutely breathtaking experience if you’re good at it. Luckily, Erwin is one of the best.” As Eren turned his head to regard Levi, he leaned back to hear what Eren had to say. “Have you ever done it before?” He questioned. Levi nodded, “Plenty of times. Although even I’ll admit I’m not as good as Erwin.” Eren nodded absently, taking in this new tidbit of information as his eyes fell back on Erwin and Petra.

Erwin turned over to Petra who removed her robe. Eren was not prepared to see a naked body so quickly and had to resist the instinctive urge to look away. Erwin took a large bundle of red rope in his palm as he instructed Petra to stand with her hands behind her back. Erwin pulled something down from overhead, a large metal hook attached to what looked like an extendable cord that was attached to the ceiling. Eren gaped at the contraption as Erwin hooked the rope over and bringing it down to their height. He let the rest of the rope fall to the ground, moving to grab another red bundle of rope, beginning to string the rope behind Petra’s arms. He did two thick rings on her upper arms, stringing the rope down the middle. He then brought the ropes that were hanging on the inner parts of her wrists and began tying rings on her wrists.

Eren watched in silence, almost like a child who was enraptured with a cartoon on a tv show. He saw Erwin speak lowly to Petra, he could only assume he was asking if she was okay because she smiled while replying and nodding. Eren couldn’t jog the fact that there were at least 20 people in this crowd including himself who were just casually observing Petra’s naked body as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Didn’t she feel exposed? Uncomfortable? Cold? Anything? Maybe this was what she wanted and didn't mind that people were staring at her. That was not the purpose of this demonstration.

He looked to Levi who was leaned back in the couch, leg casually resting over the other as he watched. His eyes continued to wander the crowd, some people were murmuring their praise, while others were just silent and watching. His eyes fell on a man and a woman near the edge of the crowd, the man was following Erwin’s movements with the rope on his partner. His partner was also naked as Petra was.

“Look Eren, you’re going to miss the best part of it.” Levi murmured, not even looking at Eren. His eyes were, however, watching Eren with piqued curiosity. Eren looked back to Erwin and Petra, the same set of knots on her shins and ankles. Erwin brought all of the strings behind Petra, tying them all off into thick knots. He separated the strings from a lone thick rope, the same one that was hanging from the ceiling, moving the rope over his shoulder so it didn’t interfere with the rest of the rope.  

Eren had to agree, that the patterns on her skin were very intricate and detailed but also…elegant. Simple. Erwin grabbed the stray ropes, bringing them all together and knotting them off, doing a few knots to make the individual ropes into one thick rope. Eren had no idea how, but Erwin had done the knots in such a way that at the end all the strings were in a loop, making one big thick hole of rope. He hadn't known any better he'd think that Erwin did boy scouts as a kid. Those knots looked severely advanced. 

_No way…_ Eren’s brain was starting to put the pieces together, slowly beginning to understand the outcome of this demonstration. Erwin was talking to Petra again. Eren realized very early on that communication was critical in this kind of lifestyle, without it everything is doomed to failure. Like anything else, but this was so very different altogether. Erwin grabbed the lone thick rope that was behind him, hooping it through the thick hole. He weaved it through, then weaving the end through the metal hook and bringing it back down again so he was holding two ends of the rope.

He heard Erwin tell Petra to fall forward, and in doing so he began pulling the rope. Eren let out an almost audible gasp, hearing Levi chuckling beside him but not really registering it in his brain. Erwin pulled the strings some more, Petra now hanging about 4 feet in the air by the intricate knots and ropes. There was applause from the crowd, Levi clapping as well. Erwin began adjusting the ropes, talking to Petra some more as he shifted things around. He brought the ropes down, kicking off a small metal lid that exposed a hoop attached to the floor. He brought the ropes down, tying them off. 

“Is…is she okay? Doesn’t that hurt?” Eren felt the questions rushing in, not even aware that he was bombarding Levi with questions and not even giving him the time to reply.

“Eren, are you going to let me answer or are you just going to keep asking questions and not get a reply?”

Erwin was now speaking to people who had come forward to talk to him, and some shuffling over to Petra to observe the knots.

Eren shut up immediately, his hands bunched into fists on his lap. He bit his bottom lip, wanting to ask so many more questions but held them in to let the latter speak.

“No, it doesn’t hurt. Kinbaku is done in a way that the ropes suspending the person aren’t putting pressure on them. Also, the knots holding them are also done in a way that the core knots, as you see between Petra’s wrists and hands are holding most of the weight. Not the ones tied around her limbs. Want to get a closer look?”

Eren’s mouth dropped open, gaping at Levi in shock. “Are we allowed?”

Levi rolled his eyes, moving his leg off his other and moving to stand. “Of course we are, you see everyone else right? This was a demonstration to teach. Come, Eren.” Eren stayed close to Levi, not wanting to get lost in the throngs of people. He caught a glimpse of Armin and Hange, Micke nowhere to be seen. He got Armin’s attention who smiled and waved before turning back to Hange.

They approached Petra, who craned her neck to look straight ahead and smiled at the men approaching her.

“Levi, Eren. I’m glad you stayed to watch the whole demonstration. Beautiful isn’t it, Eren?”

Eren nodded as his eyes scoured her naked body, forgetting at this point that Petra was stark naked. His eyes fell on the knots, seeing how the ropes came together to form a thick suspension between her arms and legs. Levi watched as Eren looked at the work, down to the two ropes that were bound to the hook on the floor.

“This is…amazing, I didn’t know that such a thing was possible. Thank you for letting me watch this tonight.” Eren gave Levi a small smile, looking over to Armin and Hange who were making their approach. He walked around the hook on the floor to greet the duo.

“Ahh, Eren lost his Shibari virginity! Petra is a doll isn’t she Eren?”

“Stop pestering him you freak.” Hange turned her head to Levi who was frowning at the purple-haired lady, who in return waved her hand and scoffed at him.

“Eren loves me! Right Eren?”

Eren let out a nervous laugh as Hange slung her arm over his shoulder, breath smelling faintly of beer. Clearly, Hange had a bit to drink and was happier and more hyper than usual.

“Armin wanted to get a closer look but chickened out at the last minute,” Hange uttered as both men looked to Hange, Armin mortified, Eren curious.

“I did not!”

Hange guffawed, moving her arm away from Eren and went to squeeze Armin’s cheek. “You’re so adorable when you’re shy! I love it!”

“Hange.”

Hange looked over to Levi, now giving him her attention.

“Stop bothering them, and go drink some water while you’re at it.”

Hange sighed, scratching the back of her head. “I guess I’ll go find Micke. He vanished before the demonstration started. I should go check on Marco as well. I’ll catch you another time Eren, Armin!” Hange waved, grinning as she walked off through the crowd.

_Marco…_

Eren remembered when he and Armin first got to the club they saw Marco manning the bar and the sign that hung from the bar top. Eren shivered, almost feeling the goosebumps forming on his arms at the recollection. Levi had written that sign with his own hand. The elegant but almost messy capital letters all together on the whiteboard. He was curious about why that was there, but maybe it wasn’t right to ask? He shook his head quickly, turning to Armin.

“Did you want to head off Armin? I know we ended up staying later than intended.” Armin was observing the knotted work, also watching Levi who was speaking to Erwin. He nodded absently, looking back to his best friend. “Yeah, whenever you’re ready Eren.” Eren nodded, gesturing to Levi and Erwin. “Let’s go say goodnight then, yeah?” They didn’t move, Eren taking a step closer to take a closer look at Armin. He poked his cheek. “You’re blushing again, Armin.”

“N-no! I’m fine. Let’s go say goodnight.” Armin took the lead, making his way over to the two older men. Eren chuckled to himself at his friend’s antics, sticking his hands in his pockets as he turned to follow Armin. As he walked over, he couldn’t help but just take in the sight of Levi. Every time he tried, he was either getting interrogated by the man or he was too nervous to actually look the man in the eye. What was happening to him? He felt like prior to making his appearance here for the first time, it had been nothing short of madness. Eren felt small parts of himself coming to the forefront and others fading into the background. He sighed, his hands moving to his hair to take down the ponytail, wanting to give his hair a break. He could feel a migraine coming on from the tight ponytail. He kept his expression neutral as he came to a stop beside Armin.

Armin was speaking to Petra who was still hanging, keeping her head up so the blood didn’t rush to her head.

“Levi.”

The said man turned his head, eyes surprised for a moment before vanishing as Eren imagined the whole thing. Eren came to a stop in front of the shorter man, dwarfing him completely. The only taller person out of their group was Erwin, and that wasn’t by much either.

“Me and Armin are going to be leaving for the night.”

Levi nodded, looking to Armin who was still speaking to Petra, Erwin now in their conversation. Another couple had come in, the whole group complimenting Erwin’s work. His eyes went back to Eren, noticing that his hair was no longer in the usual bun he kept it in. When it was down his hair just reached his shoulders, wavy and unkempt from being in a bun for so long. Large green orbs watched Levi, waiting on a response from the man.

“What did you think of the demonstration tonight?” Levi asked, trying to prolong this a bit further. Eren tilted his head ever so slightly, processing his question. “I already told you that I enjoyed it a lot. It was a new experience for me, and I enjoyed it.”

Levi tch’d, running his hand over his mouth, clearly contemplating something, or at least having an internal battle going on.

“No Eren, that’s not what I’m asking. I’m asking what _you_ thought of it personally. Is it something that you’d be interested in?”

Eren felt everything start to fade away, his focus honing in on Levi and his question. _What…did I think of it?_ Green eyes flickered from Petra, back to Levi, then back to Petra again. His eyes scanned the knots, recalling every moment that led her here. Was it something he’d be interested in? Having intricate designs like these all over his body and being suspended into the air like an art piece on display to be marvelled at?

_What did I think of it?_

“I want to be an art piece.”

Levi’s expression did not change, however, Eren could just tell that his response took him off guard. Hell, Eren wasn’t sure if what he was saying was even making any sense at this point, he was just saying what was coming to mind. It was what he knew, and what he wanted to say. These words weren't words he normally said and he wasn't sure if he was acting out of line or not. 

“I want to be an art piece to be marvelled at.”

Levi uncrossed his arms, a smirk almost on his lips as he nodded at Erwin, who in turn spoke to Armin. Levi then turned to make his way towards the exit, walking past Eren without stopping. He knew that Eren would follow him. Eren stood there watching his retreating figure to the exit, rooted to the spot. Did he hear that clearly? Or was he regressing into overexertion? He heard Armin calling his name distantly, following him and Erwin towards the exit so the talking will stop. He maneuvered himself through the crowd as he got closer to the exit. At this point Eren wasn't really listening to anything occurring around him, his brain was silent.

_You’ll be my canvas, yes._

Eren almost choked on saliva, coughing awkwardly as Armin looked at him in concern. Eren waved him off with a weak smile as Armin turned to look back ahead. They all came to a stop by the staircase, near the outer exit that led outside. It was awkward for a few moments before Armin broke the ice.

“Thank you again for having us, we had a very pleasant stay. And please tell Hange I send my regards as well.” Eren’s nose scrunched up; that was almost cringy to hear. Not how he would have worded it, but this is Armin after all.

“You’re always welcome to return, as Eren knows he is as well,” Levi said calmly, hands crossed over his chest as he watched a few customers wave farewell as they left. Levi lifted his hand that was under his arm to say bye.

“Yes. We intend on so.”

“I’d like to hope so.” Levi didn’t want to let on more than he wanted, he didn’t want to lead the brat on either. He had to do this carefully.

Erwin and Armin watched the open-ended conversation back and forth, Levi and Eren both not really acknowledging each other as they spoke. _Well, this is certainly awkward._ Erwin cleared his throat as he excused himself, saying farewell to Armin and Eren as he returned to the interior. He had come out only to say bye, needing to watch Petra.

“We go, Eren?” Eren nodded, not moving. Armin took two steps towards the door but stopped when he saw that Eren wasn’t moving. 

“Hey…”

Levi’s eyes shot to Eren, eyes more intense than usual. Eren flinched slightly, not really knowing what to make of that. He shifted on his feet, now hesitating in what he had originally planned to do. He felt his nerves returning, the tell-tale feeling of anxiety crawling on his skin. Did he do something wrong? Eren bit his bottom lip, not sure where to go from here. 

“Don’t shit your pants brat, breathe.” He heard Levi say. Eren didn’t reply, his green eyes just watching as Levi lifted his hand to Eren’s cheek, holding his face as if he was someone dear. He felt his thumb tracing under his eye in a gentle caress, like if he was made of glass. 

“Go home, relax and sleep, Eren. I’m personally asking you this.”

Just as Eren was growing accustomed to the warmth of Levi’s hand on his cheek, he was retracting his hand. Levi nodded to Armin and turned to make his way back up the stairs to the second floor of the establishment.

Eren watched the older man until he was at the top of the staircase, and around the corner, obscured from view. Walking down the same hall that they had both been walking down earlier in the night.

“Eren?”

Eren heard Armin calling his name. He felt like his heart was going to burst out of his rib cage. He took in a shaky breath while swallowing. Why did he feel so anxious all of sudden? He felt really shaky, with a tingling under the skin. He took a few deep breaths before turning to Armin, walking past him towards the large wooden doors.

“Let’s go Armin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinbaku knots: https://gaijinpot.scdn3.secure.raxcdn.com/app/uploads/sites/4/2019/04/black_white-07.jpg


	17. Paranoid Freak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of wish there was a document uploader on ao3... That's the one downside this website has because I have to go in after and fix all my bold and italics in the rich text editor. I'll live though. ^^
> 
> Musical inspiration: Not Ready to Go, Paranoid Freak and Hold Me in Your Arms by The Trews.
> 
> Enjoy!

**Beep, beep, beep!**

_What the fuck?_

Eren’s eyes opened slowly from underneath his heavy duvet, realizing that it was his clock going off. He tossed the sheet off his head and looked over to the clock that was still going off. Beans jumped off the bed, sleep officially over. Eren dragged himself to the edge of the bed, hitting the reset button on the clock before burying his face into his pillow. He forgot to turn off his alarm for this morning…Again. He had the day off and was thoroughly vexed that he was now awake in the dark at quarter to 6 in the morning.

He heard Beans meowing in the hallway and squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. He was awake, and now he won’t be able to go back to sleep even if he tried to. Eren slowly rose from the bed, walking over to blackout curtains that hung from a long metal rod. When he separated the two curtains, it was still dark outside, but the sky was slowly becoming blue. He felt Beans rubbing himself against his leg, winding his tail around his calf and walking between his legs. Eren stretched, reaching his hands above his head as he smiled down to the feline who clearly was waiting on breakfast. Throwing on a pair of sweats and not bothering with a shirt, he grabbed his phone off the nightstand, stuffing it into his pocket as he walked out of his room into the kitchen. Eren lived in a relatively simple apartment, more than enough for one person and a housecat. All he needed was a kitchen with working appliances and a bed to sleep in. And a couch, but that couch was only bought because he was living with Jean at the time.

_Speaking of Jean…_

He pressed the on button to his dinky coffee machine, turning to feed his cat while the water heated up in the coffee machine. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, seeing that there were a few messages on his phone. He placed the bowl of food down on the floor for Beans, walking back towards the coffee machine while reading messages. One was from Armin letting him know that he got home okay and another was from Mikasa asking what he was doing today. He resisted the urge to frown and inwardly cuss that he didn’t have a message from Levi but pushed it down. He opened a new message, picking Jean’s name out of his list of contacts. Not looking away from his phone his hand reached for a disposable coffee pod, sticking it into the machine and shutting the lid. He grabbed a cup and placed it under the drip and hit the same button again to let the coffee brew.

**Eren: Jean, what the hell did you die or something? I haven’t heard from you or Connie in days. What’s going on?**

Eren didn’t actually expect a reply from Jean this early in the morning, but at least he’ll see it when he woke up. Eren padded to his fridge and grabbed the carton of milk, pouring and mixing it with the coffee. He placed the milk back in the fridge, grabbing the cup and his phone, moving to sit at the corner of his couch. He tucked his legs against his chest as he scrolled through various media, quickly getting sick of it before taking a big gulp of his coffee. It was quiet. He enjoyed quiet. It was a large contrast, the complete opposite of Levi’s club which was filled to the brim with noises of various kinds. Eren bit absently on the side of his thumb as he unlocked his phone to text Mikasa back again.

**Eren: I’m not sure yet. I accidentally forgot to shut off my alarm last night so I’m awake for the day.**

Depending on what kind of day Mikasa had planned, sometimes she was up around the same time as Eren if not earlier. His phone buzzed as he had his cup back at his face.

_Mikasa: You’re off today too? What happened last night?_

Eren really didn’t want an interrogation at this time in the morning. Beans came and jumped up on the small fabric couch and the jumped up on the backrest that was rested up against a wall. He flopped over, blinking once before beginning to groom himself.

**Eren: Nothing special, we met up with a few people I know there and hung out for a few hours.**

Eren smiled tightly at his phone, he didn’t like not giving Mikasa the whole truth, but he’d rather not embarrass himself and have to explain to her what did actually occur yesterday. She’d probably have a heart attack. Eren sighed. Then again, she’d probably get the details from Armin one way or another. He shrugged to himself, reaching up behind him to pat Beans. Amazingly, Jean actually did reply. He must be really busy with work.

_Jean: Fucking busy man. I have estimates coming up the ass for this new building they’re building in the southern district. I heard from Connie that there’s a band doing a free show at Maria’s tonight. Interested?_

Eren stared at his phone for a moment, considering his options. He did work tomorrow but was doing a graveyard shift. It would be beneficial to help him adjust for a night shift… He bit the inside of his cheek as he absently patted Beans who was purring loudly from his spot.

**Eren: What band?**

Eren never could pass up the chance of a free concert. Especially if it was a good band. Eren considered himself to be a man of good taste when it came to music, he was lucky to have friends with the same tastes as him. Eren downed the rest of his coffee, placing it on the small end table beside his couch before stretching his legs out on the couch, resting his head against the armrest. His phone pinged as soon as he got comfortable on the couch, his feet dangling off the opposite end of the couch. The couch was comfortable to sit in, but sadly Eren was too tall for the couch to be of any benefit for sleeping on.

_Jean: Connie said they’re called The Trews. International band apparently from Canada._

Eren had heard of that band before, never listened to them though. He stuck his bottom lip out above his upper lip, quickly coming to a conclusion.

**Eren: Ah sure, why the hell not. What time should I be ready? I’ll meet you guys there since I live closest.**

It was true, Eren did live about 2 blocks away from Maria’s, a small dinky pub that the 3 friends frequented when they had the chance. Eren decided that he should probably shower before doing anything else today, tossing his phone on the couch and getting up. He grabbed the empty mug, rinsing it in the sink and placing it in the drying rack. He scratched his head, feeling the nonexistent grime in his hair.

Yeah, he needed a shower.

* * *

Eren stood in the middle of his room with a towel wrapped around his waist as he went about in his room, pulling out a clean pair of boxers from his drawer and a plain grey shirt. Unless Eren had planned on having company over he didn’t bother with actually putting on clothes. Jean had texted him while he was in the shower and said he was going to come by with Connie at some point in the evening after they finished work. Eren had told them that he was off today so they could come by whenever and to just give him a heads up. They had oh-so-kindly decided on pre-drinking at Eren’s then all heading over to the pub. Eren didn’t mind, he wasn’t big of a drinker to start though. Every time he thought of alcohol he was cursed with the reminders of the last time himself and Jean went to a pub for a free show.

Eren felt his body jolt in cringe at the memories. Eren knew he was wholeheartedly gay prior to that night, he wasn’t sure about his then-roommate, but he was glad that they didn’t let that night put a wedge in their friendship and gladly put it behind them. Eren flopped onto his bed, grabbing his phone that was lying on the bed as well, bringing it to his face. He sat up in his bed quickly when he saw that there was a text message from Levi.

_Levi: Good morning Eren._

How anticlimactic. Eren huffed. What did he say back to that? Good morning, how are you? He assumed so; Levi always left his messages closed off like that. No room for interpretation.

**Eren: Good morning. Sleep well?**

Before he could reconsider, he hit send. Eren looked to the clock on his phone, it read 8:05am. Eren needed to do a bit of grocery shopping as he was running low on a few necessities. He had just enough milk left for one more cup of coffee. His phone dinged again, and he brought it up to his face.

_Levi: Quite. What are your plans for today?_

Again, very close-ended. Eren crawled up his bed to rest his back against his headboard, bringing his legs up and resting his hands in his lap as he formulated a reply to Levi.

**Eren: I’m off today, but a few friends wanted to get together tonight. So, we’re going to a pub in the city and watching a free show.**

Eren stared at his dresser, knowing that he should probably head over to the grocery store before it got too busy and hated every second of being there. From elderly people who had difficulty walking to moms who didn’t work and stood in the middle of the aisle and don’t move after you’ve said excuse me more than once, Eren hated it all. He brought his attention back to his phone when Levi replied.

_Levi: Interesting. Have fun. I’m helping Hange re-face the bar today. It should be interesting._

Eren chuckled to himself at the reply. He knew the Hange-Levi dynamic and they were like oil and water. However, Eren could tell that they were really good friends beneath all of that huffing and trusted each other. He got up from the bed, standing awkwardly with one knee bent and one straight as he stood at the end of the bed, typing a quick reply.

**Eren: Sounds like you have a fun day ahead! I’m heading to the grocery store to get some necessities, so I don’t starve myself. Ha, ha.**

As soon as he fired off the text, he saw the bubbles going in the corner indicating that Levi was writing a reply. Eren found himself cheekily grinning at his phone, clearly, Levi had his phone open and was waiting for his reply without shutting off the screen.

_Levi: Can’t have that. I’ll text you later on. Or you can text me…_

Eren felt himself getting giddy, that feeling you got when you knew someone was trying to coax you into flirting and knew that they clearly had an interest in you. Eren bit his bottom lip while trying not to let a goofy grin spread across his lips. He was alone, but it still made him feel silly to start. He shifted on his one foot while staring at the reply. How was he going to go about this?

**Eren: Is that a request?**

Again, the message was immediately read, and a reply was coming. Eren placed his phone on the bed with the screen open, moving to get clothes from his closet and change in order to go out. His phone made a ‘thuck!’ noise when Levi replied. Eren threw on a blue and white striped shirt, reaching for his phone while still in his boxers.

_Levi: It could be other things, but I have no place in those other things at the moment._

Eren arched a brow at the message. Did he read that correctly? He almost wanted to push Levi further on that statement but didn’t know how to go about it without sounding desperate. What the hell was he supposed to say to that? He’s been having a lot of those internal questions when it came to texting Levi. He was quite frank and straight to the point, leaving no room for misunderstanding. Before he could even reply, Levi had texted him again.

_Levi: Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that._

Eren’s eyes went wide as he quickly replied.

**Eren: No! Don’t say sorry. It makes me…happy to hear those things from you.**

Eren put his phone down again, moving to grab a pair of jeans and shucking them on. He bent down to the bottom drawer of his dresser and put on a pair of socks. As much as he’d like to stand around and text Levi all day he had things to do. He grabbed his phone, wallet, and car keys off his dresser and shut off the room light. The sooner he got his grocery shopping done the sooner he didn’t have it pestering in the back of his mind.

* * *

Connie and Jean showed up around 6:30 in the evening, Jean holding a case of beer in his hands. They clearly thought Eren was drinking with them. Well, he was, just not as much as they think he was going to. As soon as the two men stepped into the apartment, Beans scampered into Eren’s room, the sound of his clawed feet scratching against the old wooden flooring. Jean laughed at witnessing the orange cat running away, pointing as he ran.

“Look at Beans run, that’s hilarious!”

“He probably was reminded of how you almost killed him from morbid obesity and went running, Jean. He's been on a diet since then.” Connie let out a laugh at Eren’s remark as they all went to the kitchen to place everything in the fridge before crowding into the living room. Eren decided to take a spot on the barstool, sitting across from his two companions.

Jean handed Connie a beer and Eren went to open one of his own as he held the bottle between his legs after taking a swig.

“I haven’t spoken to you guys in a while, what the hell has been going on?”

 Jean leaned back on the couch while waving a hand. “Those fucking idiots in the city expect us to give them everything they want in months. Do you know how big this building is going to cost us Eren? Almost 3 billion. Estimates need to be taken seriously here. And I mean, seriously.” Jean let out a loud sigh as he took another swig of his beer, looking to Connie.

“This guy here has been going non-stop too. It’s been insane.” Jean looked at Eren, his eyes now taking on more of a teasing glint.

“And what about you? Armin told us you’ve started roleplaying as somebody's nurse.” Connie barked out a laugh, while Eren gapped. “What the fuck are you talking about Jean?!” Eren pointed to Jean with his whole hand, beer clenched as both of the guys were doubled over laughing. Eren's confused and shocked face darted between his two friends who continued to laugh.

“I’m just kidding,” Jean said after calming down and taking a breath. “We did hear that you’re seeing someone, give us the throwdown.” Eren rolled his eyes. When the three of them got together, Mikasa was right that they did gossip like girls. That was mostly because they didn’t see each other as often as they did when they were in university and times like these were when they could all just shoot the shit.

“I met him in Subspace.”

Jean’s eyes went wide. “You mean that club we went to?!” Eren nodded while Jean hollered while slapping Connie over the shoulder. “Remember when we went, and Eren was all tight-lipped and against the idea? Now he’s getting it good instead.” Jean shook his head while his shoulders shook with laughter. “I’ll admit going to Subspace was kind of a joke, but I’m glad at least something positive came out of that. If I recall you had a rather traumatizing first experience.” Jean’s shoulders shook harder while laughing. Eren’s eyes narrowed at Jean.

“What about you Jean? If I also recall when we went back you also had a positive experience.”

Jean gradually stopped laughing, shaking his head. “Nah, that was a one-time thing. I tried, but we just lived too differently.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“He was looking for something more permanent. I don’t have the time for something like that right now, to say the least.” Jean shrugged his left shoulder as he crossed his leg lazily over the other, slinging his arm behind the couch. Eren observed Jean who started talking to Connie about work. He could understand what Jean was getting at, and could also explain what he saw last night when Marco was manning the bar instead of Hange. Marco must have done something to upset someone, or Levi himself. Eren inwardly shuddered at the concept. The thought of Levi angry frightened him, but also excited him at the same time.

For some strange reason… What the hell was he coming to?

“So Eren, tell us more about this guy. I want it all.” Jean backed up his previous question, making sure Eren didn’t go too quiet and out of the conversation.

“I, ah…well… I actually met him the first night we went, wasn’t really under a good pretense though. He also-” Eren paused, swallowing. _Here goes nothing…_ “He’s the owner of the whole establishment.”

Connie and Jean both gave Eren equal flabbergast looks as Eren sat there awkwardly. He smiled nervously as the guys didn’t say anything, then Jean finally opened his fat mouth.

“So, Eren Yeager, who originally was all ‘Oh this is a horrible idea why are we doing this,’ is now getting top brass for being a bratty shit? What the fuck!” Eren rubbed the bridge of his nose, quietly taking a sip of his beer. Jean always took things in the worst context, even though he completely understood the situation he just had to make it sound a whole lot worse than it seemed. Deciding that sips of his beer wasn’t going to get him through the night, Eren went and glugged back the rest of the brew before placing it on the counter. He got up and walked to the fridge to grab another.

“Honestly Jean, it really isn’t anything like that.” Eren sat back down on the barstool, opening the bottle with the bottom of his shirt. “We’re just talking, we haven’t done anything together. This guy has particular tastes and I want to make sure that this is what I want, and he wants to make sure of the same thing.”

Jean snorted as he got up and placed the empty beside Eren’s. “Well at least he’s not a sleazeball, you see a lot of those in rich folk.” Eren shook his head as Jean turned to the fridge and grabbed another beer. Now that the hype and excitement were over, they all could go back to the regular conversation and not interrogate Eren on his sex life. Eren had to dodge that more times in his life than he’d like to admit.

“Connie, who are these guys we’re seeing tonight?” Eren asked.

“I have a friend at work who is from Canada. He was born on the East Coast. Said the band was from his hometown and that we should go check them out. He was shocked that they were doing a show here tonight, didn’t expect them to be this widespread. He wanted to come but had other things to deal with tonight. So, he suggested that we go. Free show, why not right?”

Eren nodded, “Fair enough. What time does the show start?”

Connie pulled out his phone, looking at the clock. “It’s quarter after 7 now, we should just finish these and head over there then. The show starts at 8.” All 3 of them mutually agreed, and Eren felt himself becoming a little bit looser from the alcohol just after 2 whole beers. He never was a drinker, which is why he had to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid or out of line while he was drinking. Connie and Jean knew that too, and while they did take enjoyment out of Eren making an ass out of himself, they wouldn’t actually let him get into danger of any kind.

* * *

Maria’s was expectantly packed, the 3 friends finding 3 open barstools by the bar, across from the stage. The band was already on-stage, doing pre-show prepping and checking equipment. Eren felt his phone vibrating in his pocket and pulled it out, seeing that there was a text message from Levi again. After the little situation in the morning, Levi had left Eren to go about his day but had texted him later in the afternoon asking how his day was going. Now he was texting him again, and knowing how his business worked, the club was probably in full swing at the moment. Feeling a little bold and silly, he opened up his camera and brought the phone overhead to take a picture of himself.

“Hey, let me in!” He heard Jean say from behind him, placing 3 beers down on the counter and coming over, bringing his arm over Eren’s shoulder, doing a peace sign. Silver rings shined that were on his fingers, and Eren let out a loud laugh as he smiled almost coyly to the camera before snapping the picture. He looked at the picture and let out another laugh, considering if he wanted to actually send it to Levi. See if he can get any interesting emotions out of the usually stoic club owner.

Music began blaring in the speakers, bounding off the pub walls as the band went into their first number.

 _Wake up to the sounds_ _of the century they got a long way to go to gain on me, it's all right…_

Before Eren could really register what his intoxicated self was doing, he had sent the picture to Levi with a smiley and angel face. Eren laughed to himself, sticking his phone in his pocket as Jean looked at Eren like his friend had gone crazy. Eren jokingly began to headbang, while Jean and Connie both chuckled. Eren felt his phone vibrating against his thigh, and he pulled it out.

 _Hold me in your arms! Hold me in your arms!_ _Hold me…!_

Eren began laughing again and he felt Jean’s hand on his shoulder and looking down at his phone. He yanked his phone out of hands, Eren gasping as his eyes rapidly followed the hand that took his phone. Jean was texting, and Eren had to turn over on his stool to try to grab his phone.

“Jean…don't say anything stupid, seriously,” Eren yelled over the loud music as Jean had a full grin on his face, illuminated by the light from Eren’s phone. He gave Eren his phone back, Eren’s eyes rapidly reading over the texts.

 **Eren:** img_

_Levi: Who’s that?_

**Eren: My daddy, ain’t he just the sexiest?**

“Jean! I’m going to fucking murder you!” Jean and Connie were lightly banging their heads to the music, Jean laughing in the process.

“I’m just giving you a push Eren, I’m sure he’ll appreciate it!” 

Eren was beyond mortified, not even sure on how to begin explaining to Levi that he didn’t text that and that none of it was true. Eren felt the embarrassment coming over him in waves, how the hell was he going to show his face in front of Levi ever again? Eren had planned on just saying oh these are my friends, I went to school with them, but now Levi had some very inaccurate information in front of him. His phone vibrated in his hands as he looked at his lit lock screen. He already felt the embarrassment and he didn’t even open the text. He totally thought that Eren was some slut now who was just looking for some one-time dirty talk.

The song faded, another song beginning, drums thrumming as people cheered throughout the pub. Some hard goers were near the stage and going along with the music.

 _It's never-ending_ _as far as I know but there's a doubt you feel between us both…_

The second verse came on, leading into the chorus as Eren swallowed and unlocked his phone, preparing for the worst letdown ever.

_Levi: Daddy huh? As far as I knew Eren told me he wasn’t into that. I don’t think Eren would lie to me now, would he?_

Eren bit his bottom lip, ignoring the metallic taste of blood on his tongue as he read the text one over. It sounded like Levi was almost taunting him, or reprimanding him. He needed to straighten this out, right _now._

**Eren: No, I wouldn’t lie to you, my shitty ass friend (the same one in the picture) took my phone and said that. I’m sorry!!**

Eren exhaled, feeling his shoulders sag. He looked over to Connie and Jean, except that they weren’t there. His head shot around, looking for his 2 friends. His eyes fell on the space in front of the stage and saw them jamming out to the music. He sighed in relief, happy that they didn’t ditch him here. Jean looked over to Eren, who picked up his pint and took a large glug out of it while flipping him off. At this point he didn’t have any real animosity behind it, just showing Jean how much of an idiot he was.

He looked down at his phone quickly, eyes scanning the reply.

_Levi: Let’s see you again Eren, alone this time._

Eren blinked, a smile spreading across his lips. Levi wasn’t mad at him! Or he didn’t make an ass out of himself at least… Eren got up, walking over to his 2 friends, getting Jean to hold the camera and take a picture of him with this newfound confidence. Jean pointed to the phone then called to Eren, “He didn’t care?”

Eren shook his head, finally being able to actually enjoy the band. Now that he actually listened to the lyrics and music, he really liked these guys.

 _I'm a man on the brink,_ _I've had too much to think, I'm a paranoid freak already!_

Jean managed to get a good shot of Eren, with his hands in the air, hair falling out his bun as he smiled brightly at the camera.

* * *

Levi sat on one of the many couches in the club room, quietly drinking a glass of whiskey as he held his phone in his hand. Eren was out with a few friends at a concert, clearly drunk and one of them managed to get their hands on his phone. Levi chuckled to himself as he heard a loud slapping noise followed by a yelp of pain mixed with a moan. He looked up to a flogging scene that was occurring between Marco and Rita. Rita wasn’t a regular here, but she did make her appearance on occasion and it was always appreciated when she did.

He looked back down to his phone and sucked in breath harshly. The next picture he sent; he was not expecting. The lights were dim where Eren was, but his arms were in the air, sweat forming on his forehead as he grinned at the camera. It looked as if his green eyes were shining in the darkness and Levi found himself staring at them in the image. His hair was dishevelled, strands sticking to his neck but the majority of his bun still in place. Eren looked so in his element, in his place. He wondered if he’d be able to make Eren this happy, so carefree like this.

He sighed, swallowing the rest of the whiskey, placing it on the small coffee table placed off to the side of the couch. He opened the picture again, just staring at it. Most of his interactions with Eren were tense, or a bit awkward. He switched crossed legs, adjusting himself on the soft leather couch. He wanted Eren to be comfortable and not be so constantly intimidated by him. However, with Eren, it wasn't a fear-type of intimidation, it was the kind of intimidation where he wanted to do everything right. Eren was on the right track in the sense in wanting to please him, however, there still were many things that had to be addressed first.

If he offered this to Eren, maybe it would be an easier way of them connecting. He stared the picture of Eren for a moment longer before standing up from his seat, sticking his phone in his back pocket.

He decided. He’d ask Eren to move into the club.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case if anybody was wondering what Beans looks like.... https://images.pexels.com/photos/1170986/pexels-photo-1170986.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&dpr=2&h=650&w=940


	18. Fever pitch

Eren was still feeling giddy and hyper as he walked home from Maria’s. Jean and Connie had decided to split between an Uber, and it would have been pointless for Eren to get in because he lived literally 2 blocks away from the pub. The show finished just shortly after 10:00pm which gave Eren enough time to get home, unwind and then go to bed. He stopped at a cross light, waiting for the signal to change before crossing the large intersection that led to his apartment complex.

He had been texting Levi throughout the night despite the hiccup of Jean stealing his phone and sending unnecessary text messages, Levi didn’t appear to even regard that occurrence and just had gone on with their conversation. Eren knew he had other things to do and left him to his devices after sending the picture of himself. He pulled his phone out and saw that there indeed was a text message from Levi, but also one from Armin. Armin was simply asking if he had ended up going out with Jean and Connie, to which he replied with a yes. Armin had also said that Jean texted him asking if he wanted to come but he worked late.

Eren made to his apartment, punching in the combination to get inside the complex. He walked through the corridor, greeting the security guard at the front desk before making his way to the elevator. Eren’s apartment was on the 4th floor of the complex, and realistically he could have taken the stairs, but he was admittingly too lazy to do that.

Eren leaned against the elevator wall as it slowly made its ascent, going to finally read Levi’s reply.

_Levi: I have something I wanted to discuss with you. Are you working tomorrow? What is your schedule like?_

Eren himself even had to think about that for a second, the alcohol still running rampant through his system. He wasn’t wasted, but he did drink enough for it to hinder his sense of thought. Did Levi want to discuss things further with him? He almost wanted to ask what, but asking him now would defeat the entire purpose of him asking out for lunch again tomorrow.

**Eren: I work evening tomorrow. 12 to 8.**

The elevator reached the 4th floor as Eren stepped out, looking down at his phone as he made his way to his room. He pulled his keys out, unlocking the door. He flicked on the hall light and shut the door behind him as he bent over to remove his shoes, his hand holding his phone holding him up against the wall.

Eren quietly made his way through his apartment, placing his phone, wallet and keys on the countertop before moving to remove the empty beer bottles and put them in recycling by the fridge. He then grabbed his phone, flicked off the lights and made his way to his room.

_Levi: When do you go for lunch? I’d like to come to visit if it’s not a hectic day for you._

Eren stopped in the hallway, not really caring that he was standing in his apartment in pitch darkness, the only light illuminating was coming from his phone. Eren couldn’t really tell Levi how his way will be like because he never actually knew until he was working. Even then his unit was unpredictable, and things could go awry super quickly.

He slowly started walking into his room in the pitch darkness of night, not really considering his surroundings until he ran into his closed door, forgetting that he had shut it before Jean and Connie came over. He cursed under his breath, his hand moving to find the doorknob with his phone light and quickly turning on the light to his room as his attention went back to his phone.

**Eren: I usually take my lunch break around 5, depending on what shape the unit is in. It might not be a good idea to be making frequent visits though or else I’ll get in shit. We’ll say 6 to be sure…**

Eren placed his phone on the bed, quickly stripping himself of his clothes and throwing on a light t-shirt to wear to bed before flopping down on the covers. Eren looked on his bed and then around his room and didn’t see Beans anywhere. _Huh. Probably asleep on the couch._ He looked around more in curiosity, wanting the orange cats’ company.

“Beans! Pwp, pwp, pwp! Come here!” Beans only came to kissy noises and nothing else. Eren learned that early on when he had adopted the cat.

Surely enough, there was a thudding noise and the sound of trotting across the creaky wood, followed by the cat sticking himself through the ajar door and walked into Eren’s room. He waited until the cat hopped on the bed before looking back to his phone.

_Levi: Ok. That works. Did you have fun tonight? Sounds like you did._

Eren rolled his eyes, knowing what he was hinting towards already.

**Eren: Yeah, it was interesting, to say the least. More of an older crowd though. Again, I’m sorry for what Jean said. I didn’t mean to make you feel weird.**

Eren read over the sentence once-over before sending it off. His hand went to his chest and scratched it absently. He rolled over, reaching for his clock lazily and making sure the alarm was off completely and not just shut off from this morning. Eren jumped at the sound of his phone ringing, quickly rushing to pick it up.

He slid the green call button to the right to answer the call.

“Aa…Hello?” He said quietly. Why the hell was he talking so quietly? He was alone in his apartment. _Good going, idiot._

“Is that how you greet people on the phone? What piss poor manners.” Levi commented at Eren’s greeting. Eren pouted at the ceiling, grabbing a pillow and rolling onto his stomach. He heard music faintly in the background on Levi’s end. He could recall some of the words, it was the same song that he had heard from when they were in Levi’s office.

“I wasn’t sure if you had meant to call me or not.” Eren retorted as he buried the lower half of his face into his pillow. He felt the heat creeping up his cheeks as he buried his cheeks further into the pillow. He admitted to himself long ago that he could listen to Levi’s voice alone all day. Eren’s head shot up as he listened to the music that changed through the phone. It was faint, but he could still hear it. Levi was likely in the foyer or in the kitchen where the music could still be heard clearly.

“Is that fucking Rammstein I hear?” Eren began chuckling to himself. He could distinctively hear the German voice that belonged to only Till Lindemann. Eren began laughing again; was it sad that he knew the song playing and could actually understand what they were saying? He could bet that probably almost no one knew what they were saying that was currently listening to that song. Eren rolled onto his back, bringing the pillow and tucking it under his head.

“Yeah, what of it you brat? I mean, I couldn’t fucking tell you a lick of what they’re saying but the music is a favourite here, so it goes. And yes, I did mean to call you in case you were so curious. You think I’m stupid enough to make that kind of mistake?”

Eren shook his head in amusement, not wanting to reply to that question and risk his certain wrath. He was feeling cheeky though, in no part to the alcohol that still resided in his bloodstream and was likely going to get him caught in some no-good nonsense.

“Are you German?” Levi asked then, sounding genuinely curious.

“On my mom’s side, yes. My dad wasn’t around much, mom taught me German growing up to keep me occupied. I guess it’s a plus that I’m a fluent speaker in it now.”

Eren could hear footsteps, Levi was walking somewhere.

“Levi?” Eren questioned, not entirely sure what he was doing.

“So-” Levi paused before continuing, “If I make this song clearer for you to hear you could tell me what they’re saying?”

“I could, I can even sing along,” Eren commented back wittily with a grin on his face.

“Do it.”

Eren’s mouth dropped open, he was not actually expecting Levi to want to hear him speak German. He wasn’t expecting the sudden change of tone in his voice either. He swallowed thickly, knowing Levi was waiting on the other line.

“Ah…So the song if I recall is called Engel which translates to Angel in English.” Eren said. This was really awkward, and he had no idea how to proceed. He cleared his throat, wishing he had a glass of water at the moment for his parched throat that was suddenly so dry.

“Um…So… Erst wenn die wolken schlafen gehen kann man uns am himmel sehen translates roughly to only when the clouds go to sleep can you see us in the sky?” Eren bit his bottom lip at the end of that. Now that he even thought about it, his German was rusty as all hell. He didn’t know many German speakers outside of his family. Even that was uncommon, most of them spoke English fluently.

It was quiet on the other end, so Eren continued picking up with what he could hear. He took a deep breath before continuing.

“Wir haben angst und sind allein gott weiß ich will kein Engel sein translates to…” Eren had to think about that one. Some of the words he hadn’t spoken in a long time and he had to think back on it. “Ah…” He continued thinking, trying to recall harder. Damn, this was humiliating, even to himself. Didn’t help that he was still buzzed either. “From what I can recall it means we are afraid and are alone, God knows I don't want to be an Angel.”

“Christ.” He heard Levi mutter on the other end as the music faded out, Levi walking further away from the music. “That was new and…unexpected. Thank you for telling me and trusting me with that information, Eren.”

Eren crawled up his bed to lean against the headboard. His heart was racing, albeit from being asked to translate and the continuous change of tone Levi was currently speaking in. Could it be possible for that…? Eren licked his bottom lip, curious to find out.

“Ich finde dich sehr attraktiv. _(I think you are very attractive).”_

“What was that?” Levi questioned, his tone now almost teasing with a hint of amusement on the end. A shit-eating grin spread across Eren’s lips. Oh, now he couldn’t stop, he found a weakness. He was going to exploit the living heck out of this now.

“Ich würde dich auch gerne besser kennenlernen wenn es dir genauso geht. ( _I would also like to get to know you better if you feel the same way).”_

He heard Levi almost groan on the other line, his grin the biggest it’s ever been. He laughed quietly to himself, covering his hand over his mouth as he brought himself together. Levi had a language kink or at least found him speaking German to be a good thing.

A _very…_ good thing.

“Does Levi have a thing for German speakers?” Eren questioned teasingly. He felt powerful and confident that he was getting a reaction out of Levi this way. It made him want to do more, see how far he could press Levi. It was a different kind of high, it spurred on confidence, but it also was a major turn on.

“If it’s coming from you, quite possibly.”

Eren’s heart fluttered at the comment.

It was quiet for a few moments before Levi broke the silence, Eren sitting there and biting his nail nervously from excitement.

“Go to bed, I know you work tomorrow. I’ll text you when I’m on my way to the city. If I don’t hear from you I’ll assume 6:00 is still a go.” Eren frowned at hearing this, disappointment creeping under his skin. Feeling a little rebellious, he decided to continue on with his newfound method of cruel and unusual punishment.

“Aber ich höre gerne deine Stimme. Ich finde es sehr heiß. _(But I like to hear your voice. I think it's very hot).”_

“God, I know those are lovely words coming from your mouth Eren. If you’re going to tell me, let me be able to understand what you’re saying.”

Eren pouted through the little smirk on his face, shifting on the bed.

“That would ruin my fun now wouldn’t it?” Eren questioned in English.

He heard Levi grunt, the sound of a door clicking shut and then silence.

“Brazen shit. You think because you have a loose leash now you can be mouthy like that?”

Eren began laughing, loving how this conversation was going. God, it was like borderline major sexual tension but also just having a carefree conversation. The sexual undertones were there, nobody could deny that anymore. He could almost feel it radiating through the phone at this point.

“Seriously though. We’ll talk tomorrow. Go the fuck to sleep. I don’t know how you aren’t passed out already considering what kind of night you had already. Fucking kids and their never-ending energy.” Eren huffed, reluctantly agreeing with Levi as he moved to shut off the room light before moving the sheets aside so he could get under them.

“Yeah, you’re right. Now that all the booze is wearing off I just want to sleep. This is a nice way to end the night though. And I'm not a kid, I'm 25.” Eren said before realizing fully what he just said. He felt his face heating up once again from under the sheets. He looked to the clock and inwardly cursed at the time. Okay, he really did have to go to bed now.

“A nice way to the end the night? Christ, you’re going to give me a fucking heart attack at 30. 25 is still a shitty bratty kid to me.”

That feeling was returning, the tingly and giddy feeling. It spread throughout his body, like flames licking up his limbs. He never felt anything quite like it before and it was an addictive feeling. So Levi was 30. Another tidbit of information Eren absorbed like a sponge and retained at the forefront of his mind.  _Only 5 years older than I am..._

“Ich könnte mehr als das tun. _(I could do more than that).”_   Eren said, his voice dipping to almost a sultry whisper.

“Shitty brat Eren, go to fucking sleep!” Levi snapped back, but not out of anger.

Eren full-on laughed, hearing Beans jumping off the bed and walking out of the room. He almost felt bad for the feline, he had originally called him into his room now all he was doing was disturbing the cats’ much-wanted sleep. Ah, what the heck, cats slept all day anyway.

“Okay, okay. Sorry. Gute nacht. _(Goodnight)._ ”

Levi caught onto that one, at least. “Goodnight Eren.”

As the line went dead, Eren went to plug his phone in before rolling over to face the pitch darkness of his room and let sleep claim him once more.

* * *

Levi huffed, tossing his phone behind him on his bed as he sat at the edge. He ran a hand through his hair as he sighed, sporting a rather prominent erection. If he had known that Eren would sound the way he did speaking his native tongue, he wouldn’t have asked. Now all he wanted was Eren to speak German all day, even if he couldn’t understand a single word he uttered. It was probably the hottest thing he had heard from another man; hell, he had no idea until tonight that he had a thing for languages.

Levi stood up, moving to unzip his pants, letting them drop to the floor before stepping out of them and moving to also remove his boxers as he stood in his room naked from the waist down. He sat back down, reaching to grab a small bottle of oil that sat on his nightstand and poured some in his hand before reaching to grab his erection that was heavy between his rested legs. He huffed through his nose, hand retracting the skin before fisting his member, making rotational strokes up and down his shaft.

This truly was an unprecedented event, but the more that he heard Eren talking, it caused a fever pitch in his arousal and it took everything in him not to take the conversation further. He wouldn’t do that to Eren, not until he felt entirely comfortable doing so. He let out a shaky breath, mixed with more frequent moans as his hand moved more rapidly along his member. His hand then reached down to fondle his balls as his hand moved back up to stroke his dick.

_Yes…this was…_

Levi’s breath hitched at the thought of Eren begging for release, pleading with him in that language Levi found himself so suddenly enamoured with. Levi felt himself starting to become rigid, the waves climbing higher and higher with each stroke. He came with a shudder, the scorching feeling panning out throughout his body as he cursed quietly. He felt his legs quiver as he slowed his strokes and then came to a stop, nose scrunching in displeasure at his hand that was covered in his release. Quickly becoming disgusted with the substance, he got up and walked to the en suite bathroom that was connected to his room and washed his hands thoroughly and wiped down his now receding dick, shutting off the light and walking back into his room. He bent over and grabbed his boxers, putting them back on and removing the black t-shirt that he was wearing until now. He was way too warm to be wearing that shit right now.

He flopped back on the bed, letting his head rest on the cushions. He closed his eyes as he tried to calm down his racing heart, feeling more blissed out than he had felt in longer than he’d like to admit. Realizing he was lying on his phone, he grabbed it from under him and placed it on his nightstand before rolling over. He felt like he could pass out here and now, but he couldn’t. He hadn’t even planned on calling Eren to start but the texting was getting annoying and if they had planned on having a whole conversation it was better to just do it over the phone.

Levi sighed, closing his eyes briefly before getting up from the bed, staring longingly at his body print that was left on the sheets, desperately just wanting to go to sleep now. Shaking his head, he walked back over to the other side of the bed and picked up his discarded pants before moving to get dressed once again and the last time for the night. He wanted to give in to his desires so now he had to reap the 'benefits' of the aftermath. 


	19. Choice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be the use of medical abbreviations in this chapter that not everybody may understand. Abbreviations are used in the medical office as doctors write out prescriptions so receptionists and nurses can make a quick understanding of what the doctor’s orders are. Abbreviations used in this chapter are the following:
> 
> t.i.d: three times a day.  
> p.o: by mouth/orally.  
> CC: with meals.
> 
> Amoxicillin is a common antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections. Most common replacement for Penicillin for patients who are allergic to Penicillin.
> 
> I’ll make notes such as these before each chapter that there’s abbreviations or medical information such as this. ^^
> 
> Enjoy!

Eren made his way to the ICU, large coffee in his hand. He had met up with Mikasa earlier just as she was going out for her break. They spoke for a few moments before Eren excused himself, not wanting to be late for work. Upon arrival, Sasha greeted him and told him what was waiting for him as per usual. There were 2 clipboards that required his immediate attention. One was a patient that will be coming down from Nephrology and another for a child who just had a tumour removal. Eren frowned at reading the chart that came down from Oncology.

He put the coffee down on the other side of the receptionists' desk, reaching over and placing it off to the side where Sasha also kept her own coffee. He scratched his forehead as he flicked through the charts.

“Anything else I need to be aware of, Sasha?” Eren questioned as he placed the two clipboards in the filing shelf that was bolted against the wall for review. Sasha shook her head, already engrossed in her administrative duties. Eren turned from the desk, beginning his rounds for the first half of his shift.

The first of the 2 new patients came in 3 hours later, a young boy who had a lipoma removed from his shoulder. Lipomas are typically benign and have a low likelihood of becoming cancerous but in this case, it was hindering everyday motor movement and had to be removed. Everything seemed to be within normal limits as he read over the transfer charts given to him by the Oncology nurses. He walked into the room, noting that the boy was still asleep. He read his vitals off of the vital monitor, writing them down and walking out of the room.

“Eren?”

Eren turned to who was getting his attention, seeing one of the unit doctors come out of a patient’s room.

“Yes, doctor?” He asked, placing one of the charts in the filing slot for doctor review. The doctor walked over to him with a slip in his hand. He placed the slip on the counter, signing it and showing it to Eren.

“I need you to give the patient in 3309 500mg of amoxicillin for pneumonia and ready him for discharge. Sasha has already informed the family that he is ready to go home today, and someone will be in later this afternoon to pick him up.” Eren nodded, reading over the prescription slip as the doctor walked off to his next patient.

_Amoxicillin 500 p.o  t.i.d  CC with 0 repeats._

Eren squinted at the lettering, asking Sasha for confirmation who nodded. The information stated oral dosage, three times a day and to take with meals. Eren handed the slip to Sasha. Whenever prescriptions are written out Sasha would make a copy of them to send down to the pharmacy, so they have a copy of it on their file. If the patient is an inpatient, this will let them know which medications to stock up on when they come up to fill up the medication stock in the unit. She handed it back to Eren who went around the corner to a small, narrow, lab room that had the units medication stored. Most of it was antibiotics. Narcotics and any high dose pain killers were stored in a time-delayed safe and took 10 minutes for the safe to open to access the medication.

Eren tucked a stray strand of brown hair behind his ear that had fallen in front of his face as he placed the slip down and proceeded to wash his hands and put gloves on.

 _Just another day…_ Eren thought to himself as he started counting the pills and placing them into the pill container. He was looking forward to Levi coming to visit him and going for lunch later on. He chuckled to himself as he put the rest of the antibiotic away, double-checking the amount in the pill container before sealing it and printing out a label for the bottle. He couldn’t help but wonder how Levi will be today after last night. He smiled to himself as he shut the light off in the lab, closing and securing the door behind him before walking back towards the front desk.

“Here.” Eren handed Sasha the slip and she discarded it promptly via paper shredder. He briefly looked at the clock before sighing quietly, cheeks puffing out as he turned around and made his way to the patient’s room to prepare him for discharge.

* * *

Eren was genuinely shocked that he actually was able to take his lunch when he had planned to. He was glad that the rare occurrence decided to fall on a date where it actually mattered. There were days where he went through an entire shift without a break and those days were the ones where he just wanted to curl in a corner and fade away from the world. He grabbed his sweater from behind Sasha’s desk and made his way towards the elevator. He plucked his phone from his pant pocket, unlocking his phone as he stepped into the elevator alone.

Levi had texted him saying that he was waiting in the lobby. Okay, that helped. He wasn’t sure where he was supposed to meet Levi, only where they were going. The elevator stopped on 2 floors, people coming and going along the way to the ground floor. Stepping out and walking down around the corner, he passed various small little gift shops as he approaching the main lobby of the large hospital. He could make out Levi sitting by a window, staring out onto the bustling streets of the city.

He approached him, seemingly sensing that he was approaching and turned his head to look at him. He simply sat there and watched Eren approach until he was standing in front of him and then decided to stand.

“Hi,” Eren said with a smile, sticking his hands in his sweater pockets. A little part of him was jumping for joy that Levi was once again taking the time out of his day to visit him while he’s at work and spend his break with him.

“Eren. Glad to see you’re looking okay. I hope the hangover wasn’t as horrible as I think it might have been.”

Eren shook his head, “Mm, no. I’m actually really good about the hangovers. I only get them if I drink sugary drinks. Otherwise, I’m alright. Plus, I started later so I was able to wake up on my own schedule, otherwise I wouldn’t have gone out anyway.” Levi arched a brow as nurse Eren just went into a full rant about his alcohol habits. Levi nodded towards the doors as they both made their way outside of the hospital.

“How has your shift been so far?” Levi asked as they came to the cross light, pressing the signal light and waiting for the lights to change. Cars whizzed and forth in the midst of evening rush hour.

“Like any other day I suppose, not much else I can say.” Levi nodded as they crossed the road, making their way to what was becoming their regular place to sit and chat. They came to the door and noticed that there was a sign saying that the shop was closed due to a family emergency.

Eren frowned at the signage, eyebrows furrowed in thought.

“Eren? You okay?”

“Yeah…I mean yeah, I’m fine. Just hope Historia is okay this really doesn’t happen often or really at all.”

“Historia?” Levi questioned.

“She’s the blonde woman that usually works the counter here. Her parents own this shop. Really nice family.” Eren bit his lip in thought before looking to Levi and giving him a small smile.

“So, coming here is out the question. What should we do now?”

Levi looked around while sticking his hand into his jacket pocket to pull out a pack of cigarettes.

“We can go for a walk I suppose, if that’s okay with you. It’s nice enough outside. Did you actually plan on eating or was this just to satisfy your horrifying caffeine addiction?” Eren laughed, watching as Levi covered the cigarette that was in his mouth with his hand to light it, shielding it away from the gusts from cars passing by. Eren thought Levi looked so casual, but so elegant while doing something so simple as lighting a cigarette. It almost reminded him of a classic film noir movie set in New York City.

“Yeah, you got me there. I always say I’ll cut back on my coffee consumption, but it always fails on the same day I say I’ll cut back. You, on the other hand, have no room to talk.” Eren watched as Levi exhaled smoke, it leaving through his nose. Levi tilted his head towards Eren, a neutral stare on his face.

“We all have our quirks, wouldn’t you agree?” Levi began walking, Eren speeding up to catch up to him before walking beside him. “We’ll just walk around the block and see what happens from there. Don’t want to stray too far from the hospital.” It was quiet between the 2, except for the sounds of the city in motion around them.

“So, you said you wanted to talk to me about something. I’m all ears.” Eren finally said. It was beating on the back of his head, this thing Levi wanted to talk to him about. The curiosity was eating away at his insides. It had been since he mentioned that he wanted to speak to him last night.

Levi didn’t immediately reply, taking another drag out of the cigarette before flicking it out onto the road. He exhaled the smoke, noticeably coming to a decision before speaking. He opened his mouth to talk, before shutting it again. He sighed before actually speaking this time.

“I have a proposal for you. While it is pointless now to deny that there isn’t a form of attraction between us or at least an interest in another, I have an idea that can help benefit the both of us. I doubt that you’re continuously conversing and meeting with me to simply just ‘chat.’ We clearly established that in the negotiation room. Or the black room, if you can’t recall which room I’m speaking about.”

“Are you offering to sign a contract with me?” Eren asked suddenly, cutting him off without really thinking about it. The question was just on the tip of his tongue and he had to ask it before he could potentially forget about it. Levi looked to Eren from the corner of his eyes before looking straight ahead again. The lack of response was adding to the growing humiliation of cutting Levi off and asking such a question, to begin with. They turned the corner, coming to the shadier side of the buildings that were hidden away from the sun.

“No. You don’t have the knowledge or experience for me to do such a thing.” He stated simply. Eren frowned at the subtle rejection. It hurt, to say the least.

“But what I am suggesting is an alternative, for now.” Levi stopped, turning to face him as they stood alongside a tall grey building with stucco walling. It was chillier when the sun wasn’t shining on them.

“What I propose is in exchange for me teaching you about this kind of lifestyle and helping you broaden your own horizons and to develop and discover yourself; you move into my club.”

Eren stared at Levi with widened eyes, like a deer caught in the headlights. He wanted…him to move in? Eren was too busy trying to fully register what Levi had just offered to him, too stunned to actually give a reply. He simply stared at Levi’s face, who had his arms crossed over his chest and was silently waiting for Eren to respond. How…Why? Eren gulped, looking away from Levi to a bunch of pigeons that were on the sidewalk and were pecking away at the ground. Someone had previously thrown bird seed for the birds and they seemed to be going crazy.

“I…I don’t understand, how would this benefit me? Why are you suggesting this to me?” Eren seemed to be in some firm state of denial and was currently trying to refuse that this was actually happening. The deep inhale of air he took in to help himself calm down didn’t go unnoticed by Levi who simply continued to stare at his face with a cool gaze.

“You see how Erwin and Hange live. Outside when the club isn’t open it is just a regular home situated to many people. If you live in an apartment this shouldn’t be much of a change for you. You come and go to work like you usually do, you live as you normally do. Everyone gets along and you know everyone already. But… When hours are running you are to be with me, learning.”

Eren processed this information, eyes skittering between Levi’s face and the empty space next to his head. He needed to think about this, this was a lot of information being thrown at him at once. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Levi tilted his head at Eren, questioning him.

“Speak, Eren. I want to hear your thoughts.”

Eren swallowed, tongue darting out to moisten chap lips. “I…I want to give you a response now, I really do but I need time to think this over. Is that…okay?” Eren worded the question with hesitation, not entirely sure if Levi had expected a response right away or not. Before Levi could reply, Eren spoke again. “I-I mean, it’s not like I don’t want to, I want to but I need-” Eren was cut off by Levi’s finger going to his lips, effectively silencing him. Eren’s eyes went down to the single finger that was pressed to his lips and resisted the urge to take it in his mouth. Tempting, but not the right time.

“I didn’t expect a reply right now Eren that would be stupid. Think it over, you tell me when you’re ready. The offer is there, either you seize it or walk away. It’s up to you. If you have any questions you know you ask me them.” Levi moved his finger away, hands going into his jacket pockets. He looked around absently before looking back to Eren. Eren was still running all of this new information through his head, not really in the present. Would Levi let Eren bring Beans? He couldn’t imagine himself outside of his dinky little apartment.

“Eren.”

Eren’s focus came back, eyes falling on Levi who was starting to walk back in the other direction. He looked over his shoulder, Levi looking at him with concern.

“If I’m not mistaken I saw a convenience store inside the hospital, I’ll buy you some of their crappy coffee instead. Tell me what’s going through that head of yours. Remember, I don’t like secrets.” Levi waited for Eren to catch up, and they began making their way back towards the hospital. Eren was currently trying to comprehend why Levi was putting so much time and effort into all of this, into him. Even last night seemed much like something out of a dream, fragmented dreams that almost felt like reality. He literally was just a regular nurse working in a hospital until Jean and Connie started up with their shit again. If he hadn’t come across Levi and Marco that night he wouldn’t have ever met Levi. None of this would be happening right now.

“Eren, you’re doing it again,” Levi said with a tinge of annoyance.

“I-ah, I’m sorry. This is just a lot of information to process. I’m still wondering why you’re putting your time into me. It just doesn’t really make much sense to me; I don’t even know a thing about the kind of work you do, or the life you live.” Eren ran his hand through his tied-up hair, hand reaching to fiddle with the bun before bringing his hand back down to his side. They came to the intersection that they had turned on, turning back left to approach the hospital. “Well Eren, I could ask you the same thing. Why are you putting the effort into me? Why do you keep returning to my establishment?” Levi almost frowned, but resisted, simply resorting to his brows furrowing. “And thinking it’s okay to tease me in German.”

Eren let out a humourless laugh, a smile touching the edges of his lips as they continued their walk. “I can’t help it. I feel some invisible pull. I guess you can call it an attraction. But it’s different than a simple physical attraction. I just feel the need. If that makes sense at all.”

“Have you considered that maybe it’s the same for me as well?”

Eren finally looked to Levi fully as he reached to press the signal button. The gusts of wind from cars driving by tousled Levi’s hair in the slightest, giving him an almost innocent look in the sunlight.

“I…guess I considered it, just didn’t think it possible. I mean, look at me.” Eren gestured to himself as they made the walk across the intersection to the hospital entrance.

“What about you Eren?”

Levi watched with interest as they walked to the door, Eren opening the door to hold it open for him. Eren had to think about that one as they walked over to the small convenience store that was situated in the gift shop section of the hospital. Eren always had low self-esteem of himself despite the consistent cocky attitude he displayed. He just wasn’t ready for someone to strip off the cover like old wallpaper to expose what was underneath.

“I don’t know…I’m just me. I’m a nurse. Nothing special about me. I have a fat orange cat named Beans that demands my attention whenever I get home.”

Eren watched as Levi grabbed a large coffee cup and proceeded to fill it from the coffee machine, grabbing milk and pouring it while the coffee was going into the cup. It seemed like such a mundane thing for someone like himself to be doing. Eren simply stood off to the side as Levi paid for the coffee and came back to Eren, handing the large hot cup to him.

“Those are things that make you. You have a job; you also own a cat. What of it, Eren?”

Eren gaped at Levi with shock and endearment. Did he actually just say that? This man was an alien, seriously. Levi began chuckling at Eren, who returned the chuckling with an incredulous look. Moments passed by, Eren’s eyes widening as he slapped his hands over his mouth with a yelp.

“Did you just call me an alien? No, ‘Thank you for the coffee Levi?’” Eren shook his head, feeling his cheeks heating up as Levi continued chuckling. He did not mean to say that aloud, sadly his mind and mouth thought otherwise. “Sorry! Today just has been a nonstop series of surprises I don’t know how much more my brain can handle. Thank you very much for the coffee.” Eren popped open the drinking lid and took a sip of the coffee. For convenience store coffee it tasted quite good. He never considered coming here for coffee, opting to always visit Historia’s family café and be a good patron. Levi pulled his phone out of his pocket to look at the time.

“Have about 25 minutes left. Want to take a seat somewhere?” Eren nodded, directing them to 2 empty seats near the front window of the hospital. They were in the same spots that Eren had originally found Levi in but were on the opposite side of the lobby. They took their seats, Eren going to take another sip of the coffee before placing it down on the table in front of them both. Levi crossed his leg over the other, folding his hands in his lap.

“I don’t want you to see me asking you to move as a selfish thing. While it does give me the chance to get to know you more and vice versa, I think being around the ones you can trust and talk to is important. Granted that I know you already have friends, but having those people around you more frequently is beneficial to your health.”

Eren crossed his arms over his chest, looking at Levi in amusement.

“Was my whole career and education in becoming a nurse a dream?”

“I’d make a pretty shitty nurse to be honest.”

Eren laughed, not caring how loud it was and that people were looking at the 2 like they were crazy.

* * *

Eren sat at the small island in his apartment, eating a sandwich in silence. Beans was sitting on the empty stool next to him, waiting for his owner to pass off some of the morsels that he was currently chewing on.

The rest of his shift had gone relatively quickly, to say the least, after Levi had left. When Eren had questioned how he got here, Levi told him that he parked up the street to avoid having to pay for hospital parking. He had just texted Armin telling him to call him when he had the chance. He looked to his orange cat and patted his head. “What do you think about living somewhere new, huh?” He asked the feline quietly while moving to scratch the side of his face and chin as he started to purr.

His phone began to ring, moving his hand from his cats’ head to hit the talk button on his landline as he continued to eat.

“Hey, Eren.”

“Hey, Armin. Thanks for calling.” He heard rustling in the background, the sounds of grocery bags being put on the surface in Armin's kitchen. “You know, you could have called after you put your damn groceries away,” Eren said with a laugh.

“It’s okay, you’re on speaker anyway.”

“Same. Perks of living alone I guess.” Eren tossed the remaining crust of the sandwich into his mouth.

“How was the shift?” Armin asked, the sound of a fridge opening as he was placing groceries in it.

“Pretty tame today honestly. Got 2 new patients from Nephrology and Oncology. Not much else.” Eren paused, deciding to just come out with it. “Levi came by and spent my lunch break with me.”

“Oh? That’s why I didn’t see you when I came to pick up faxes from Sasha. Our stupid fax machine has been broken for days and I don’t know when they plan on fixing it, so now all of our faxes are being redirected to ICU fax.”

“That sounds horrifyingly mediocre of management to do.”

Armin laughed, the rustling sound of plastic bags in the background. “It really is. So, how was lunch? I imagine that’s why you wanted me to call.”

“Yeah. I don’t want to get into too many details or else it’ll go on forever but…You know how the club is partially a residence right?”

“Hm, maybe. I knew a few people lived there but don’t they also work there as well? That’s what I was told by Hange at least. Why? Did Levi ask you to move in or something?” Armin asked jokingly. A nervous smile spread across Eren’s face as he pursed his lips. Armin had an uncanny way of guessing exactly what was going on where Eren was involved.

“Well…funny that you say that…”

It was quiet on the other line, Armin clearly stopping what he was doing in his kitchen.

“You’re joking, right? I guessed it. Why would he suggest you moving in Eren you barely know the guy!” Armin was about to go on one of his ‘voice of reason’ rants but Eren stopped him before he could begin. He wasn't going to bother getting right into it because it would be difficult for others to understand who weren't in the current situation and probably call him mad.

“Listen, I didn’t give him an answer. This is to mutually benefit our…growing relationship I guess you can call it. I know everyone there, it’s not as if I’ll be moving in with strangers. You and everyone else are more than welcome to visit outside of hours as well. When the club isn’t open, it’s simply a living establishment. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“But why Eren? Can’t you tell me? Is this...BDSM-related?”

“I mean, yeah I can, but that involves going into my sex life which I don’t really think you want to hear. Also, yes. It is.”

“Ew…”

“Exactly. I gave you the censored version of it.” Eren retorted with a laugh. Armin sighed as he continued to put things away, the continuous sound of grocery bags rustling in the background.

“I don’t understand why this means you need to move though. It just seems a little sudden.”

“I need to sit on it a bit longer before giving him my answer. It is a life-changing decision, literally.” Eren looked to his phone sitting beside his empty plate, picking it up to text Levi. If there was one person he could get advice from...

**Eren: Can you ask Hange for her number? I need to ask her a question.**

“Do you plan on telling Mikasa?”

Instant dread filled Eren’s veins, cold like ice as he looked at the sent message before looking to his landline that was sitting on the counter. “Well. I mean I kind of have to or else she’ll find out eventually.” Eren felt the goosebumps starting to litter his skin at the concept of telling her that he had planned on moving to establish a potential relationship involving very kinky practices with someone he pretty much had just met. Hmm, maybe he could leave out that last part…

He heard Armin chuckle on the other line, “Good luck with that.”

Eren rested his head in his arms as he groaned into his arm. “Thanks, buddy,” He muttered, muffled by the skin of his inner elbow. His phone vibrated on the counter and he lifted his head from his arm to look at his phone, head still resting in his arm. 

_Levi: 090-2526-0530. She says she looks forward to the message._

"Hey, Eren?" 

"Yeah?"

"Will you eventually tell me the details?" 

"Sure, once things are sorted out and you don't mind me robbing you of your mental virginity." 

"Minus the robbing of mental virginity, of course." 

Both of the friends chuckled and changed topic, deciding to move onto other things before hanging up for the night. Eren copied and saved Hange's number, figuring out how to word this request to Hange.

Eren just knew that this was only the beginning.


	20. A kink in my neck

“Hange!” Eren called, waving while trying to get the attention of the purple-haired lady while standing just outside the front door of his apartment building. He sped up down the sidewalk; she didn’t hear him. He tried again, this time closer and she heard him. She smiled at him, turning to meet him halfway, walking away from her car that was parked at the very end of the lot.

“Thanks for meeting up with me on such a short notice Hange, Levi didn’t ask about where you were going did he?” Hange shook her head, bringing her purse further up her shoulder. “Nah, he was busy with Erwin doing some number crunching. I sneaked out easy peasy!” She winked at him, Eren smiling at her. She obviously didn’t have to sneak out, but he did ask Hange the night before that Levi didn’t know where she was going.

“So, you said it was rather urgent.” Hange started as they made their way back to Eren’s apartment. “I wouldn’t say urgent-” Eren held the door for her as they walked towards the elevators. “But I don’t know who else to ask for advice on the matter.” Hange looked at Eren curiously as they got into the elevator, it taking them up to the 4th floor where Eren’s room was. Eren led the way to his apartment, and once they got to the door and opened it, Beans was sitting on the kitchen counter watching the humans come back into the apartment. Hange gasped while putting her purse down and removing her shoes, rushing over to the orange cat who stared at her curiously. She turned to Eren while pointing at the cat. “Is he friendly?”

Eren nodded, placing his shoes beside Hange’s. “Yeah he’s fine, just don’t pet his belly.” Hange turned back to the orange cat and began patting his head, the cat starting to purr and rub his head against her hand.

“Did you want anything to drink? Water or tea? Coffee?” Eren stepped behind her to get into the kitchen area. Eren looked over to Hange who clearly was not listening and had her full attention on Beans. He seemed to really like Hange. Beans usually hid when he had company over but maybe he was caught off guard this time. He shook his head in amusement while grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and placing it beside Hange. He walked back around to sit on one of the barstools, Beans turning to walk over to his owner and rubbed his body right in his face.

“Pfff, cat, I don’t want hair in my mouth!” Eren took Beans and picked him up, placing him on the floor before reaching to his mouth to pluck the single hair that did get into his mouth out, cringing in disgust at that.

“So? What’s going on Eren?” Hange leaned against the counter, attention now on the brown-haired boy in front of her. Eren inhaled deeply, staring down at the counter. He had his hands clasped together in front of him on the kitchen counter as he looked over to Hange. Hange was staring at him blankly, waiting for him to start talking.

“So…Yesterday Levi came by my work. He wanted to spend my lunch break with me.”

Hange looked to Eren in surprise, raising her head from its rest on her hand on the counter. “Levi did?” Eren nodded. A grin slowly spread across Hange’s face as she pointed at nothing, voice raising. “I knew it! I so called it! He left the house being like ‘I’m going to the store I’ll be back,’ in that usual grumpy voice of his! When I told him to wait because I had a few things that needed to get picked up he just left without saying anything!” Eren put a finger over his mouth, indicating for Hange to quiet down. He started laughing as Hange rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “Need to be quieter, these walls are thin.”

“Yeah. So, we did that. Although it was a lot more than that. He asked me…to move in. There. With all of you.” Eren sat quietly on the stool, hands fiddling in his lap as he waited for Hange’s response. He watched as Hange registered the information, her eyes going wide. “And? What did you say?” Eren looked down to his lap. “I said I’ll give him a response soon.”

It was quiet in the apartment as Eren looked up from his lap to Hange. Hange looked just as shocked as Eren did when Levi first suggested the idea to him. “And…Realistically I don’t know if I can do that. It’s not that I don’t want to, I just don’t know what Levi’s intentions are. I don’t want to invest so much time into something only for him to dub it a ‘lesson.’”

“Lesson? What are you talking about?” Hange came around the counter and sat down on the stool beside Eren, taking the water bottle with her and opening it. Eren signed as he rested his head in his arms, leaning into the counter. He groaned loudly and raised his head, hair sticking out of his bun on his head. “Levi told me that I don’t have enough experience or knowledge to actually engage in a relationship or to form a contract with me. He said that while I’m living there outside of hours I do what I usually do. But when it’s inside of hours I’m to be with him, and learning.”

Hange stared at Eren, her face contorted in concentration and slight confusion. She bit the inside of her cheek as she tried to come to some reasonable explanation as to why Levi would be doing this.

“Like… I don’t want to put words in his mouth, but I haven’t seen Levi show interest in anyone in almost 10 years. He’s very business-oriented, as you could probably already tell. And I’ve been friends with Levi since we were in diapers.” Hange put her hand over her chest, indicating to herself. “I can understand why he wouldn’t want to jump into anything with you either, but not even signing a contract means like…Nothing BDSM related. Which contradicts his so-called intentions.” Hange stared ahead at the black fridge that was in front of them.

“Can I ask a question Hange?”

“Go ahead Eren.”

“I was too nervous to ask Levi this, I didn’t want to feel more hurt than I already did.”

Hange’s expression softened as she looked at Eren. “Why did you feel hurt Eren?”

Eren started nibbling on his bottom lip, becoming anxious. He was not ready to voice what he was feeling inside, but he knew he could trust Hange with the words he wanted to say.

“I felt a connection with him. Something different. And he even admitted that he felt the same. Still, though he said that he would not form any formal connection or relationship with me. It hurt because I already feel the need to do the right thing to make him happy.”

“Eren, there’s a big difference between doing the right thing and being somebody’s submissive you know that right?” Hange questioned almost solemnly. Eren drew in a shaky breath, bringing his hand to his face, it covering his right eye as it clenched at his face. “It doesn’t make it any easier.” Eren almost snapped, trying to restrain the emotions reaching to the surface. Hange came out on her own time to talk to him, he did not need to get angry with her. She had nothing to do with this.

“Aa,” Hange said, sighing deeply. She took a glug out of the water bottle and placed it back down on the counter.

“What was the question you wanted to ask me, Eren?”

Eren pursed his lips, fists shaking lightly on his legs. Did he even want to know anymore? It was information to be gained, but did he want to know the details?

“What’s the difference between what Levi wants from me right now, a contract, and a collaring?” Eren had tried doing a bit of the research on his own but hadn’t gotten much success due to the internet being full of women and men alike writing out their own fantasies in a BDSM world. It was best to ask someone who knew about it well.

“Well…From what you’ve told me, not including Levi’s point of view what he wants from you is to learn and distinguish what interests you and what you’d want to avoid. He’d be acting as a teacher almost. A contract establishes the power exchange between the two individuals. What your goals, expectations, wants, needs, and limits are. People tend to think that without a contract there is no sex, that’s not correct. When a contract is signed that means both individuals are on the same page and have discussed everything in between. Verbal consent must also be given and things that are to be avoided must be verbally communicated as well. Safewords and gestures must be established during this time as well.”

Eren listened quietly to Hange’s explanation. Levi had been very adamant about Eren not giving verbal replies to him, he learned that really quickly.

“And…That’s where the BDSM relationship begins. It being master and slave, mistress and slave, dominant and submissive, big and little, all of these must be adhered to by the contract. Obviously it varies depending on the dynamics, but the contract must not be breached. Breach of contract means trust has been broken and someone overstepped their boundaries.”

“I’ve never heard of a big and little before…” Eren started.

Hange’s eyebrow twitched. “I’m not the person to be asking about that. I personally don’t approve of the concept, but everyone has their own…interests. Ask Levi if you’re curious.” She cleared her throat, swallowing. “Collaring is the most valued…Hm, I guess I’ll call it gesture.” She rubbed her finger under her nose as she reached for her water bottle.

“Did you want another?” Eren questioned. Hange was doing a lot of talking, it was the least he could do. She shook her head, thanking him quietly as she drank the rest of the water.

“Collaring symbolizes not only the relationship between the dominant and submissive, but it also shows ownership of the submissive. They’re exclusive unless otherwise has been discussed between the individuals. Like polygamy relationships for example. The contract still applies but because they are now actually involved, the contract doesn’t hold as much weight. Lots of people take this step without the actual collaring. It’s very significant to have a collar handed to you. I’m not talking just any collar you can find in a store or that we have for our scenes. I’m talking a customized collar that’s for you to wear and only for you to wear.”

“Can I ask you another question Hange?”

“Of course, hon.” Eren smiled faintly at the nickname given to him.

“Has Levi ever collared anyone?”

Hange shook her head, letting out another sigh. “Levi thinks he’s too busy to give anybody special treatment or attention. Like I said he hasn’t shown interest in anyone since we were finishing university. And even that wasn’t a long-lasting thing. I just think he doesn’t want the commitment at the moment. I’ll admit Eren, as his closest friends, me and Erwin were quite shocked at seeing you over at the house on multiple occasions. We want what is best for the both of you, but I personally don’t want to see you hurt because you’re not getting what you are trying to request.” She put her hand on his shoulder, smiling. “You’re a good man Eren, you deserve a little happiness too. I can tell that work is stressing you out greatly.”

Eren looked very fragile at the moment, and the compliment Hange just bestowed upon him seemed to be the breaking point as he started to tear up, tears falling down his cheeks. Hange’s mouth dropped open as she began laughing, throwing her arms over Eren’s shoulder as he hid his face in his hands. “No!! Don’t cry!! I’m here to make you laugh!! Gosh, I was doing so good too...” She rubbed his shoulder with her hand after backing off to make sure that he was okay. Eren hiccupped, rubbing his eyes and wiping the tears off his face.

“You’re not allowed to cry while I’m around Eren. I refuse it.” Eren let out laugh between breaths, wiping his wet hand on his pant leg. “Please don’t tell Levi what we spoke about. I just needed an opinion from someone who knew him well and that I felt comfortable having this conversation with.” Hange nodded, asking where Eren kept his water. He mumbled that it was in the fridge, and she got up to grab him a bottle from the fridge.

“Do you feel like having this conversation helped you come to a decision?” Hange asked as Eren downed more than half of the water bottle. He placed the closed water bottle between his legs as he fiddled with the lid.

“I wouldn’t say I’ve made up my mind, but it helped me understand my situation a bit more. Levi isn’t wrong that I’m inexperienced and ignorant, but it is my sincere wish to exceed his expectations of me. It’s what I want, and I’m sure it’s what he wants.” Hange nodded, smiling at Eren as he started talking about work. Levi was taking every step to make sure that this went smoothly. Eren originally being the unwilling person, slowly started to show change and that change was now showing in Levi as well. Eren’s feelings were clearly showing through his want to please Levi in whatever came his way. Hange just hoped that Levi saw that sooner than later.

* * *

Hange pulled her glasses on her forehead as she approached the front doors of the large white house. She dug through her purse for her keys, stopping when the door opened itself. She looked up and saw Levi staring at her skeptically. She grinned and saluted to Levi. “Thanks for getting the door! My purse is an utter disaster as you can tell.” Levi stepped to the side to let Hange walk inside, shutting the door behind them.

“Where the hell have you been all afternoon?” He questioned as Hange took her shoes and placed them in a small cubicle behind the receptionist's desk. “I didn’t even see you leave, nobody did actually.” Hange put her hands on her hips as she regarded her best friend. “Curious now are we?” She knew that Levi would question her the moment she got back, she just needed to get him off-trail was all. Levi continued to glare at her, Hange not really caring about that. She came around the desk, passing Levi as she made her way to the staircase. She sighed aloud at the lack of response, turning on the staircase and putting her hand on her hip, her other hand in the air as if ready to give a motivational speech. 

“If you must know, I was in dire need of laxative so I went into the city to the clinic to see what the doctor could prescribe for me. It’s been _really_ bad these last couple of days.” She emphasized on the ‘really’ as she walked up the stairs, hearing the chuckles of Erwin and Micke coming from the kitchen. Levi stared at her retreating figure; arms crossed over his chest. He knew she was hiding something, but he wasn’t going to press her on it. “Hange, your bar fridge is empty. Best restock before we open for the night.” He called, voice echoing. He got no response; be he was sure that Hange heard him based on how her door slammed shut. He smirked, hand reaching into his pocket as he walked into the main room, eyes on his phone.

**Eren: I’m finding that my days off are starting to become quite boring. I need more friends. All of mine do the same shit I do. Well, not all of them. Minus 2 of them.**

Levi walked over to a couch and sat there, crossing his leg over the other. The main section of the club was quite different during the day. The music was off, and he was the only one sitting in the large space. His walking across the black floor almost echoed with his shoes clicking against the floor. There was no talking, no wails of pain or ecstasy. He reread Eren’s text. It almost sounded like he was trying to hint to something.

_Levi: I wish I could say that I had a boring day. Having friends that have the same qualities and interests as you isn’t a bad thing._

He heard footsteps approaching, head leaning back on the couch to look behind him. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the duo that was walking towards the bar.

Marco?

Levi leaned back further on the couch, twisting his back and slinging his arm over the back of the couch to see who he was with. _Grey hair…_ Isn’t that Eren’s shitty friend that stole his phone the other night? He looked down at his phone and saw that he had replied, bringing the camera up. He quickly took a picture of the duo sitting quietly together and turned back to sit comfortably on the couch.

_Levi: image_jpg_

_Levi: Look familiar?_

He scrolled back up to read his reply after sending off the picture. Eren had said that he meant people with different interests but still got along with. He had also meant by just meeting new people to expand his circle, to begin with. He got another reply, scrolling down to read it.

**Eren: Holy shit, is that fucking Jean?! That asshole said that he wasn’t talking to him anymore!**

_Levi: Guess they are. I’m just sitting here minding my own business and they came in._

Levi chuckled quietly as he scratched his cheek, looking back over his shoulder and then doing a double-take at the two clearly now making out. Did they not notice him sitting here? His eyes narrowed again, seeing Jean’s hand reaching to crawl up the back of Marco’s shirt.

“Oi! Get a fucking room!” His loud voice echoed through the empty room startling the duo, Jean almost falling off the stool. Marco looked over to where the voice came from, freckled cheeks heating up. “S-sir! I didn’t see you there. I’m sorry.” Levi wasn’t looking at them, waving his hand in the air. “There are other places to be doing that, not right at the bar that has been sanitized and cleaned.” He heard mumbling after his comment, and then footsteps fading away.

**Eren: Why is he there? Do you know? What the actual fuck??**

Levi was finding Eren’s reactions comical. Clearly this guy named Jean was trying to hide his fraternization with Marco from Eren. Or maybe they had just started talking? Who knows? He wasn’t in any hurry to find out.

_Levi: I guess one of them wanted some action, they were sucking face over at the bar until I told them to get a room. They didn’t even notice that I was here. Horny little shits._

Levi watched as bubbles instantly appeared in the bottom left corner of the screen, indicating that Eren was replying already. Clearly he was taking these changes of events seriously.

**Eren: I mean, sure whatever Jean do whatever the fuck you want but just the other night he was saying that it wasn’t working out between the 2 because Marco was apparently too different.**

Levi arched a brow at the reply, fingers going to work on the screen.

_Levi: Guess they worked it out, I didn’t even know that he was here until now. How has your day been going?_

Levi leaned back further into the soft couch, looking around absently. This place truly had a different atmosphere during the day. He never really took the time to notice that or to just sit around and text someone. He felt like it was something he needed to do with Eren. It wasn’t like he was able to see Eren every day and have these conversations. It felt wrong and made his day go by so much slower to not talk to Eren during the day. He hoped that Eren would give him a reply soon to his offer, but he knew he couldn’t rush it. It was something that Eren had to come forward and tell him on his own. He wanted to get to know Eren more in every sense of the word, but this was something he absolutely could not charge into if he wanted it to work out.

**Eren: It was alright. I’d call it a productive day. I’m just hanging out now.**

The text was followed by an image. Levi downloaded and opened the image quickly, breath hitching at the image before his eyes. Eren was sitting on his couch, the picture cutting off in the middle of his chest. He had a hoodie on, his hair was also up. He also noticed a fat orange cat lying behind him on the backrest of the couch and was asleep. Levi felt like he could stare into Eren’s eyes for hours and not get bored. They were doe-like, large, and green. Levi swallowed, not sure what to respond to that without sounding like a creep.

_Levi: I’m just going to be honest and say that you have very lovely eyes. I could stare at them for hours on end and not get bored._

Did that sound creepy? Levi stared at the text that was still in the text box contemplating his options. He hit send, knowing that the longer he waited he’d probably never even respond back and get too nervous. His phone dinged, and Levi looked to his phone too quickly and felt a stinging in his neck. He grunted, cursing as his hand went to massage the kink before it got anymore painful than it already felt.

“Oh, for fucks sake…” Levi muttered to himself as both of his hands went to massage the back of his neck, moving his neck from side to side and rotating. He looked down, feeling the tense muscles and hissed at the pain. He had to keep moving his neck or else the muscles would tense up and it would hurt even more. He got up, grabbing his phone and walked away, rotating his neck some more. This is what he got for being almost _too_ excited for a fucking text message.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hange is here to be a bro. Hange is everybody's bro.


	21. Secrecy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Bows* I apologize for the sudden delay in postings, work has been nothing short of a disaster and lately I’ve been feeling like just coming home and going to bed. I got caught up on all of my assignments and found myself with some time to be here writing for all of you lovely folk stuck in quarantine. Again, I please urge you to stay home, and if going to grocery shopping to adhere to the social distancing rules set for your safety and for the safety of others.
> 
> Enjoy!

Eren didn’t expect to be entertaining guests all day but here he was with Mikasa in his kitchen. She had texted him shortly after Hange had left asking if he was busy for her to come by his apartment after she was done work under the pretense of 'catching up.' Eren had known Mikasa more than any of his other friends as she is a close friend of the family and knew her since they were kids. Mikasa was actually the one that got him a job at the hospital when he was struggling to find work. With all of that being said, she could make her way around his apartment and make herself at home without him having to hold her hand.

Eren sat cross-legged on his couch while looking at his phone, and Mikasa decided to walk over and pluck his phone from his hands. He looked up in annoyance, glaring at his friend.

“Mikasa. Give me my phone back please.”

“I will, once I know you’re actually listening to what I have to say.” She simply held his phone at her hip where her hand was resting, cocking a hip in annoyance. Mikasa knew better than to invade privacy, unlike Jean who went all out and sent out inappropriate text messages without his consent.

“I heard you, you said that your car needed repair and have to take transit to work for the next week. What of it?”

Mikasa rolled her eyes and tossed Eren’s phone in his lap as she moved to sit down beside him.

“If you were actually listening, I wasn’t trying to lean into anything I was just telling you that my car needed to be fixed.” Mikasa’s eyes went to Eren’s phone that was still lying in his lap. Eren had his head reclined back against the couch and was staring idly at the ceiling. Eren shook his head, laughing.

“Jean is so full of shit.” He started laughing harder, shoulders shaking. Before Mikasa could question it, Eren continued on. “This idiot says oh no I’m not talking to anyone, meanwhile I find out that he’s sitting around with his tongue halfway down this guys throat.” Jean was going to hear it later from him, that lying little shit stain. He didn't really care that Jean was seeing someone but he clearly told him and Connie that it wasn't working out. Why the sudden change? 

“Uh…what?” Mikasa had no idea what Eren was going on about, and she wasn’t entirely sure if she wanted him to go into any further detail. Before she had found out about Eren and Jean’s not-so-subtle hook-up after a night of drinking she firmly believed that Jean was going to be forever obsessed with her. She recalled Armin telling her about that, and she resisted the urge to puke in her mouth a little. That was also the moment she found out that Eren was gay and that also took her by surprise, but she took it in stride anyway. Who was she to judge? But with Jean? Really? Eren was the person Jean had to find out he had a preference for men with? 

 _Widerlich...(Disgusting…)_ Mikasa inwardly thought, trying to rid the thoughts from her brain. It was bad enough that she knew that the guy she grew up with was sexually active. Try ridding that from your imagination.

“Hey Mika, has Armin told you anything about me lately?” Eren questioned, still looking at the ceiling. Mikasa looked at Eren curiously. What had brought that on?

“No…Nothing out of the ordinary, at least from what I can recall. Why? Did something happen?” She started drilling the questions, concern lacing in her voice. Eren groaned, scratching his head. This was going to be a nightmare to explain to her without her having a complete freakout. Or maybe she wouldn’t and take him completely by surprise. He never knew with her; she was always so unpredictable.

“No, nothing happened. At least nothing bad anyway. So, you remember the guy we spoke about right? The one I met at the club me and the guys went to?”

“Natürlich… _(Of course,…).”_ Mikasa muttered as Eren glared at her. She felt Eren glaring at her and she looked over at him. “What?!” She said while trying not to laugh, smothering the smile spreading across her lips as Eren continued to glare at her. “Du bist ein Arschloch. _(You’re an asshole).”_ Eren said back, Mikasa now chuckling lightly. “Okay, okay enough of that. No need to be speaking German between us.” Eren gestured with his hand in her direction, “You started it, I was simply trying to explain something to you.”

“Okay, I’m sorry. What is it you wanted to tell me?”

“Well. It’s pretty obvious that we’re interested in each other. But we wanted to try something different between us. It involves…me…moving there.” Eren trailed off as he watched Mikasa for reactions. She sat there quietly, gesturing for Eren to continue talking. Eren shrugged, indicating that he said what he had to say.

“Why?” Mikasa questioned singularly.

“It’ll just make things easier for us. I had already spoken to a few others and I wanted your opinion in the situation.” Eren began fiddling with a stray lock of brown hair that was resting against the lower nape of his neck as he waited on Mikasa’s reply.

“I think you already know my opinion on that, Eren. Although it’s not really my place to be saying no you can’t or yes you can. You’re an adult, you can make your own decisions. I’d just like to know why this requires you to be moving elsewhere. Aren’t you happy here?”

“Yeah I am, but I feel like this has been waiting for me. I feel like something is holding me back being here. You know how it is at the hospital Mikasa, I come home and I’m alone all the time. I feel like this would also benefit me to be around more people. The people there are nice, I’ve already made some friends there.” Eren sighed as he stared off into the small apartment space. He understood clearly what Levi had told him the other day and he agreed with what he meant. While he did have friends aplenty, it would be good to constantly have people around to help maintain the anxiety and stress that came with his work.

“If it’s okay me asking, what kind of relationship is it you’re getting into, _Eren?_ ” She asked, German accent lacing his name thickly. She watched as Eren tried to come up with a proper answer to her question. She already knew it was going to be something she absolutely hated and wanted to tell him to forget about, but she had no place to say that.

“It’s a teacher-student relationship revolving around BDSM, that’s probably the best explanation I can come up with without freaking you out,” Eren said quietly, clearing his throat awkwardly. This was not how he had it planned in his head and it was turning out to be way more awkward than it needed to be. Mikasa arched a brow at him, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at him in almost amusement.

“Eren is kinky?”

Eren’s mouth dropped open and he looked to her and slapped her shoulder. “Mika!” Eren lapsed into German again as Mikasa began laughing, “Ich meine es ernst! _(I’m serious!).”_ Eren pouted as she quieted down and sighed heavily.

“Honestly, of all things…” Mikasa trailed off as her shoulders shook, laughing quietly. “Carla would kill you if she knew.” Mikasa was referring to Eren’s mom, who Mikasa regarded as an aunt to her. Carla was living on her own out in the more rural parts of the area since Eren had moved out to come further into the city for school and work. Eren rolled his eyes and shook his head, “That’s why she’s not going to find out you idiot. I think she’s well aware that there are things she doesn’t know about. To be quite honest I don’t think she’d even want to know. You know mom.”

“Let’s hear it, Eren.”

“What do you mean?”

“Tell me everything, I want to know it all. I need to make sure my baby brother isn’t getting lured into some potential homicide trap.”

The room was silent except for the sound of Eren throwing a pillow at Mikasa, yelling at her, who in return shrieked and started laughing again.

* * *

Eren led Mikasa out of the apartment, planning on going out himself. He hugged Mikasa goodbye, waving as she walked over to the guest lot around the corner to where her car was parked. That was…super embarrassing. Mikasa wanted to know it all, and she really had meant that. He had to explain literally everything to her, and she knew if he was holding something back or not. He wouldn’t go ahead and say that he got her approval but at least she was in the loop and was aware when it came to making his decision.  When Mikasa was out of view, he slowly made his way towards the underground parking.

He pulled his phone out as he walked down the ramp that led under the apartment complex, turning the corner to approach his black Jetta.

**Eren: Am I able to come to see you tonight?**

Eren decided to just leave it at that. No point in spiking further curiosity he already instilled in the single question. He got into the small car, sitting there for a few moments before putting his seat belt on. This was utterly insane. Was he actually doing to do this? Eren heard his phone buzzing in the cup holder but decided against answering it until he got to the store. Eren wanted to show Levi that he was serious and wanted to learn from him, and this was probably a good start.

Or so he thought it would be.

Shaking his head, he slowly backed out of the tight parking space before driving around to go back above ground.

Before Hange left earlier, Eren had gotten a little off-topic and asked what some things were that Levi had looked for in another man, aesthetically. Naturally, before Hange could answer she asked what Eren had planned. After he had told her, she looked like a kid cracked up on sugar and wouldn’t shut up.

_“Okay, okay. So, first of all, I thank you Eren for letting me in on your idea! Hange Zoë is here to save the day!” Hange pulled out her phone, bringing up Chrome on her phone. Eren came over and sat beside her, looking at what she was trying on her device. His eyes widened at what he saw. Her face had a wide grin, looking a little more crazy than civil._

_“Hange…” Eren trailed off, Hange shh’ing him._

_“Trust me when I say this will work. Levi will be happy that you at least took the effort in doing some research on your own. This changes things up a bit now. Why didn’t you tell me this when I got here?!”_

_Eren gulped, slowly regretting letting the purple-haired lady know his thoughts for the evening._

_“I didn’t know that…it was a good idea?”_

_“So, I’m going to tell you a store where you can go to it’s a widely known store and by far a personal favourite. It’s called Northbound Leather. And when you’re on your way, tell me. I’ll let you in and we can get you set up.”_

Eren drove further into the city, passing by his work and looking at the large hospital building before driving along. He was glad to have the last 2 days off in a row so he could just focus on recharging and getting shit sort out. He had an afternoon shift tomorrow which added another extra half a day onto his time off. His GPS dinged, indicating that he had made it to the building Hange had instructed him on. He pulled over onto the side of the road into a parking space, shutting off his car and huffing. Was he actually crazy enough to do this? He just didn’t want to make an idiot out of himself with his inexperience. This would also show his willingness and interest, not that he already hadn’t made that known.

He got out of his car, making sure no other cars were coming as he stepped around and walked onto the sidewalk, approaching the building almost hesitantly. Hange had told him that the person working there was super nice and would help him with any questions he had. When Eren had questioned it she said that she was really close to the person. He didn’t press further on it but trusted Hange’s words. He stepped into the store, eyes having to adjust to everything being really dark.

He stepped into the shop, eyes scanning the space. The front counter was empty, but he heard footsteps coming down from the second floor. There was a set of stairs near the back and he saw a man coming down with short blonde hair. Eren stayed at the entrance, still looking at everything in the small shop. He had been in a sex shop on numerous occasions but…this was different.

“Hi there!” The man approached him with a smile. Eren looked to the blonde, smiling awkwardly.

“Hello.” Shit. What was he supposed to say?

“If you’re looking for anything, in particular, please don’t hesitate to ask me.”

“I…Actually am, this is all new to me so the help would actually be greatly appreciated.” Eren laughed nervously while rubbing his arm. The man smiled at the obvious embarrassment the other man was showing. It was a common thing for newcomers and it was his job to make sure everybody that came through those doors felt welcome and comfortable at all times and left happy. 

“Are you a friend of Hange’s by any chance?”

Eren looked to the man with widened eyes, who was smiling back at him. Maybe this was the person that Hange was talking about?

“Hange had called me and told me that someone she knew was coming by. My name is Moblit. This is my shop.” Eren reached forward to accept the handshake he offered, already feeling a bit more at ease. “My name is Eren and I have no idea what the hell I’m doing.” Moblit laughed, clearly enjoying himself. “Well Eren, that’s what I’m here for. Now, what can I help you with?”

* * *

Hange hated relining the bar. Especially when Levi made her do it basically every week. Honestly, was that necessary? She knew that she had to clean the space almost compulsively to satisfy the businessman, that was for certain. If she didn't, he'd know. The man was so anal about the cleaning everyone just gave in and saved the argument for never. On top of the regular sanitation that all businesses needed to follow in order to comply with health and safety measures, Levi took it a step further. For all good reasons, of course. People were conducting physical activities and everything had to be more than just clean. All members also were subjected to STD checks every 14 days and if they were dated, membership would be frozen until it's been updated.

It was close to opening for the night and everyone was preparing to open shop. She hadn’t heard from Eren and hoped that he didn’t back out on his original plan. She did get a text message from Moblit saying that Eren was with him at the shop but didn’t hear from him after that. After she had returned from Eren’s apartment she didn’t see Levi for most of the day. He was probably holed up in his office doing only God knows what that man did on a regular basis. She smiled to herself as she wiped down the various bottles of alcohol before placing them on the stands behind her. She was glad Eren was taking the initiative in expressing interest in Levi. She was also glad that Eren had asked her of all people for input on the situation. Hange prided herself on being the person everybody could come to for advice. She saw everything that happened around here and sometimes people needed a little push.

“Hange.”

Hange snapped out of her inner thoughts, seeing Levi standing there.

“What’s up short stack?” Hange asked, continuing with her cleaning while ignoring the evident glare Levi was now grilling her with. That was quite normal with Levi. She was used to it, as was anyone that knew him well enough. She almost choked on the concept of Eren accidentally calling Levi short. She didn't even want to know. Poor soul. It definitely would have a different result than her calling him short.

“What did you do?”

This guy _really_ needed some new hobbies.

“I need a little more information than that, I’m relining the bar as you asked. Is it not in the order you want?” She asked, pausing her cleaning.

“No, not that. Eren asked me if he could come by again tonight. Eren asked for your number the night before. Obviously the lines connect somewhere.”

He **really** needed some new fucking hobbies. He probably sat there in his office, scrutinizing and trying to make sense of everything since Hange stepped in the door like the little freak he was.

“Eren needed someone to talk to, other than you, about work. He needed a laugh; I gave him a laugh. Is something wrong, Levi?” Hange was doing her utmost to defuse the situation, knowing Levi will interrogate her until satisfied. It just went with his personality. She placed a bottle of Grey Goose on the shelf, turning back and picking up a bottle of Stolichnaya, or what Hange affectionately referred to as ‘Stoli.’

“I don’t want Eren to feel pressured in any way, I want him to approach on his own. Don’t screw it up Hange.” Levi retorted while looking over her shoulder to scan the shelves of unbottled alcohol. Hange put her hand on her hip, scrutinizing the shorter male. “Levi, you’re talking to me of all people. Seriously?”

“Move the Grey Goose to the other side. I know who I’m talking to, but I also know how you are, four-eyes.” Levi turned away, making his way over to a sectioned-off VIP area and rearranging the couches and tables situated there. Hange watched him work, amusement evident in her eyes. Hange knew when not to cross the line, and Eren had approached her first. Levi needed to take a step forward as well if he expected this to work. She heard her phone buzzing behind her, turning to pick it up. She resisted jumping on the spot, reading the text twice over.

**Eren: I’m leaving now. I had to stop by my apartment to grab a few things. How exactly do you plan on sneaking me inside? I really want to avoid getting yelled at, lol. I had texted Levi earlier asking if he’d be down in the club tonight and he said he would. I didn’t reply…**

Hange looked over to Levi who was speaking to Marco who was holding an assortment of items in his hands. Levi was instructing him where to place things, the younger submissive listening and placing the things in order. She didn’t like to scheme behind Levi’s back but again, this was Eren’s idea. Eren wanted to do it, she was merely giving him a helpful hand.

_Hange: Don’t! He’s already suspicious, the little bugger. Don’t come inside, let me know when you’re here. We’ll figure it out._

She put her phone down, continuing with the realignment. Levi was in for the surprise of a lifetime. She heard Erwin talking near the entrance to Oluo who was writing a few things down. Levi walked past the bar once again but this time not stopping to talk to her, to which she was almost grateful. She even felt her own resolve faltering under his hard stare and sometimes it even made her nervous when he was in a mood. Levi had made the point to Eren awhile ago that he had put more than enough people over her bar top and he was not wrong. From the sound of it too, he didn't have a gentle hand either. 

Hange shuddered as she finished her relining.  _Yuck._  


End file.
